Winning Back the Gilmore Girls
by Slovesemmett
Summary: Post Finale, Christopher and Logan try to win back the Gilmore Girls they've loved and lost.
1. Chapter 1 Making The Decision

**Setting: Post Season 7**

**Winning Back the Gilmore Girls**

Christopher Hayden was miserable. It had been six months since he'd left Lorelai, and he had yet to truly feel like it was the right thing for him to do. His mother constantly asked him why he did it, and the best answer he could give her was that he did it for Lorelai. Her happiness mattered more to him than his own.

Rory called him once a week to check up on him. She knew he was miserable, but she had enough on her plate and he didn't want to burden her. He tried to put on his chipper voice, and resolutely refused to ask about her mother. He knew she knew otherwise, but for now the charade remained intact.

The only person that couldn't tell how unhappy he was, was Gigi. And that was probably only because she was barely 5, and he worked extra hard to be happy in her presence.

He sat in his office in his Boston brownstone, the shades drawn to prevent the light of day from disturbing his mood, staring at the photographs on his desk. They were family pictures: he and Gigi in Paris, he and Rory in Stars Hollow, he and his parents at his graduation when he finally finished college, he, Rory and Gigi last Christmas. None of the pictures contained Lorelai, but she was behind almost every one of them. As much as he loved his family, his life was incomplete without Lorelai Gilmore.

He had a separate box that was put away high on a shelf in the back of a rarely used closet. That was where all of the pictures he loved the most were. Tucked away so they wouldn't remind him of how badly he'd screwed up on a regular basis. In that box there were pictures of he and Lore growing up together. He smiled at the thought that there was probably even one of their Lucy and Schroeder reenactment on the elder Gilmore's coffee table. Pictures of them as happy carefree kids, as teenagers in love, even some after it had all gone wrong, pictures of Rory in the hospital hours after she was born, her school pictures every year, snapshots of his intrusions on their lives over the years when ever he decided to pop into town, and even a few pictures from his married life with Lore, however brief it may have been.

He rubbed his blood shot eyes with the palms of his hands and poured himself another scotch.

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"Christopher?" he was suddenly wide awake to hear his mother calling for him. He briefly glanced at his watch, it was 10 am, and his mother was dropping Gigi off as she had kept her the night before. That was the one semi decent that had come out of him leaving Lorelai, his mother and his daughter were actually getting to spend time together, which he knew his mother loved. She had wanted so badly to spend time with Rory and his father just wouldn't permit it, by the time his father was gone, Rory was an adult.

"Coming Mother." He called as he rubbed his tie and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't even bother to glance in the mirror on his way to greet his daughter. He knew that the combination of sleeping at his desk, the bottle of scotch he consumed, and the tears he had shed were not a pretty sight.

"Daddy!" the excited 5 year old squealed as he came into sight. He winced involuntarily as the shrill of her voice did nothing good for his hangover.

"Hey baby girl!" he said, "how was your visit with Grandma?"

"We had a tea party!" she informed him.

"Christopher, you like you were just pulled from the floor of a bar," his mother hissed. "This has gone on long enough. Go take a shower and I will stay with Gigi for a little while longer."

"I'm an adult Mother, I can behave as I choose," he told her, but the look on her face told him now was not the time to argue, and he turned on his heel and headed towards his shower.

"Gigi, do you want to show me your new dolly?" he heard his mother ask as he shut the door to the bathroom. If she wanted to stay that was just fine by him.

He turned on the shower and looked in the mirror as he waited for the water to heat up. He hardly recognized the man staring back at him. His hair had grown out, since he couldn't be bothered to go get it cut, his eyes were blood shot and had dark circles beneath them, and he had 3 days worth of stubble on his face. His mother was right. This had to stop.

He stood in the shower until all of the hot water was gone, then took great care shaving. He located the bottle of Visine to 'get the red out', and by the time he left the bathroom he looked almost like himself again.

Gigi was playing on the floor in the living room when he entered. He scooped her up into his arms and spun her around. "Daddy! Put me down!" she screamed in delight.

"I can't!" he teased as she giggled. "So what do you want to do today?" he asked.

"Can we go to McDonalds for lunch?" she asked eagerly.

"Anything you want today Princess."

"Yay!" she cheered. He put her down and she ran off to her room to find her shoes. Francine was sitting on the couch watching the scene unfold, and as Gigi left the room she stood to leave as well.

"Thank you for everything Mom. You were right." Christopher told her as he hugged her goodbye.

"That's what mothers are for, dear," she told him as she patted his cheek. "Good-bye Gigi! I'll see you again soon for another tea party."

"Bye Grandma," the little girl said as she threw her arms around her waist to hug her goodbye. Christopher watched his mother's face fill with joy as his daughter clung to her waist.

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Christopher spent the entire day with his daughter. They started with Happy Meals ™ at McDonalds, then spent the afternoon in the park. Gigi happily chattered at him all day long, filling him in on her tea party with Grandma, the smelly boy at day care, and the little girl who's birthday party she hoped to go the following weekend. He didn't think about Lorelai once all day.

When they returned home from the park, Chris sent Gigi to put her toys away and pick out a movie to watch. While she was doing that he returned to his office to clean up from the night before. He gently returned the photographs to their designated spots, and tossed the empty scotch bottle in the trash. He sat down at his desk and checked his email. He was reading a rambling missive from one of his college buddies when a tearful Gigi appeared in his doorway.

"Daddy?" she wailed, holding what appeared to be a ballet leotard in her hand.

"What is it Gigi? Are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"I need Aunt Lorelai," she said through her tears.

"Why?" he asked hesitantly.

She sniffed before she started her answer. "The dance show is next week and Aunt Lorelai promised she'd make my costume extra special." She extended the plain pink leotard for him to see.

Christopher sighed as he tried to figure out what to do. Initially Gigi asked for Lorelai almost daily for one reason or another, a bed time story, a new dress for her dolly, or a birthday party for her teddy bears. He had made excuses why Lorelai couldn't be there and eventually Gigi's requests became less frequent. It had been about a month since the last time Gigi had come to him wanting to see Lorelai. "I'm sure Molly could fix it for you." Molly was the housekeeper he had hired and she took care of most of those things.

"NO!!! I don't want Molly to do it. I want Lorelai to do it!" Gigi screamed. And then, she threw a temper tantrum, the likes of which he hadn't seen in almost a year.

Poor Gigi, Christopher thought, first her mother abandons her, then I try to keep her from the closest thing she has to a mother. "I'll call Aunt Lorelai in the morning," he finally conceded.

He had spent the entire day trying to move on, and it finally dawned on him, he didn't want to move on. His daughter needed Lorelai, he needed Lorelai. He had no choice. Christopher Hayden needed to re-win Lorelai Gilmore's heart.

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Logan Huntzberger was miserable. It had been a month since Rory had turned down his marriage proposal, and he still couldn't get over it. His Ace had turned him down. He'd been so sure she'd say yes when he asked. He wasn't the only one in shock, his parents and his friends were equally shocked. Not only had Logan Huntzberger made the ultimate declaration of love, but he'd had it thrown back in his face.

He could clearly remember the sad look in her eyes when he turned to walk away. It didn't seem to matter how much he drank, and he drank quite a lot, that look haunted him.

The first week Colin and Finn had spent the week with him, the three of them in a drunken stupor only sobering enough to order food or buy more booze, but after that Logan had to move on with his life. He had a job to get to in San Francisco.

The weeks that he had been in California he worked all day then came home and drank himself to sleep. He cut himself off from all of his friends and family, his own self-imposed solitary confinement.

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It was Sunday morning and he was jolted awake by a strange blonde shaking his arm. "Logan, wake up, there's someone at your door," the girl said. He shook his head trying to wake himself and trying to remember the name of the girl in his bed. His coworkers had forced him to come out last night and he'd gotten drunk and picked up some random blonde chick.

He threw his feet over the edge of the bed and pulled on some pajama pants that were lying on the floor. "I'm coming!" he shouted to the door as the knocking persisted. He flung open the door in annoyance to find Colin, Finn, Stephanie and his sister on the other side. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked angrily.

"Well it's nice to see you too, Mate," Finn retorted. "So cheery this one!"

"I'm so glad you convinced us to fly all the way out here Stephanie," Colin said, his voice dripping sarcasm.

"Shut up you two!" Stephanie started, Honor nodding in agreement. "Logan, you need us whether you want us here or not, so just step aside and let us in."

Logan stepped aside as the foursome hauled their bags into his living room. It was at this moment that the blonde decided to make her appearance. Luckily she seemed to have enough sense to know she wasn't going to be sticking around, as she was redressed in her clothes from the night before. "It was nice meeting you Logan," she said as she walked towards the door. "Call me sometime if you want to hang out again." She placed a card on his counter.

"Yeah, you too," he told her as she walked out the door. His face returned to a scowl and he looked at his friends. "Like I asked before, what are you doing here?"

"None of us have heard from you since you boarded the plane for California 3 weeks ago. We're worried about you, you big ass," Stephanie told him.

"Even mom and dad are worried," Honor added.

Logan snorted, he couldn't believe that his parents were possibly worried about him. At most they were worried about any scandal he might cause.

"Mates, he's fine. Look at the lovely Sheila that just left," Finn started. "What was her name Mate?"

Logan looked at his hands, then tried to glance at the counter to see if he could read her name off the card she left.

"He's not fine Finn. He doesn't even know the name of the girl who just left!" Colin exclaimed.

Logan walked into the kitchen and poured himself a scotch, then walked towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. Stick around if you must," he told his friends.

He stood in the shower until the hot water was gone, then padded into his bedroom to throw on some jeans and the first cleanish shirt he could find. He glanced in the mirror to see his bloodshot eyes and 3 days worth of stubble, he just didn't care. He reentered his living room to find the place tidied up. The takeout containers had been picked up, and the newspapers had been piled into a neat stack. His friends were sitting at his dining room table sipping coffee. That's when the smell hit him. Fresh brewed coffee. "Get that shit out of my house!" he roared. He couldn't bear the smell of fresh coffee. It was just too much. Stephanie hurried into the kitchen to empty the remainder of the pot, and Honor picked up the cups on the table and dumped them down the sink.

"I was drinking that," Colin objected. Stephanie shot him a look and he quickly shut up.

"Sorry Logan," Honor apologized and the others looked appropriately contrite. Well except for Finn, who just looked confused.

He shrugged them off and took a seat at his table. "So is this where I should sit for my intervention?" His face was twisted into a sneer.

"It's not like that," Stephanie told him. "We just want to help. We love you and we were worried." The others nodded in agreement.

"You shouldn't worry about me. I'll be fine. I was fine before I met her and I'll be fine again," he told his friends with as much kindness as he could muster. He wasn't sure if they'd believe him. Hell, he didn't even believe himself.

"Yeah Mate, you're fine," Finn stated sarcastically, "That's why you've got a trash can full of empty scotch bottles and take out containers. I think the scotch bottles outnumber the take out containers by at least three to one."

"She was a fool to turn you down," Honor told him quietly as she laid her hand on his arm.

"She just wasn't ready to get married." Logan's head snapped up to see who had spoken. "Were you ready at her age?" Colin spoke again, looking at his hands.

"What the hell Colin!" Stephanie yelled at him. "If you're going to take her side, why did you even bother to come on this trip?"

All eyes were focused on Colin, most of them shooting daggers. "I'm not taking her side, I think it's crappy that she just walked away. But I'm just pointing out that at her age it might be understandable that she said no."

Logan sighed. He had forgotten that no one else knew that he was the one that had given her the ultimatum and walked away when she said no, even though she wanted to try long distance. He had also conveniently ignored the fact that her heart was probably just as broken as his was. He cleared his throat, and whispered, "uhm… I was the one that walked away. Colin is right, she wasn't ready to be married. She wanted to stay together and do the whole long distance thing while she was on the campaign trail."

The whole table was dead silent, then everyone started yelling at him all at once. "What kind of fool are you?" "Get her back!" "This is your own fault!" "I never thought you could be so stupid Huntzberger."

He crossed his arms on the table and laid his head on his arms. He deserved all the insults they could hurl at him.

After a few minutes the rant was over and the house was silent again.

"So what are you going to do now Mate?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully. He wasn't sure what to do. Did he want her back, or did he want to move on?

"Go get her back!" Honor shouted smacking him on the arm.

"What if she's moved on? What if she doesn't want me back?" he asked, fear laden in his voice.

"Well I guess that's up to you. Come on guys, let's go check into our hotel and give Logan a chance to think," Stephanie instructed as she stood up and went to retrieve her bags.

"We'll be back to pick you up for dinner Huntz," Colin said clasping his hand on Logan's shoulder.

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After his friends left, Logan went into his office and began to make a pro/con list. Looking down at his completed list he realized that he needed Rory Gilmore more than he'd ever needed anything in his life. He had no choice.

Logan Huntzberger needed to re-win Rory Gilmore's heart.

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**Author's Note: I don't own Gilmore Girls, or David Sutcliffe or Matt Czuchry (although I really wish I did ********) **

**I know this kind of an odd perspective, but let me know what you think. Should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2 The First Step

It was 6:00 on Monday morning and Christopher Hayden sat on the side of his bed with the phone in his hand. He promised Gigi he'd call Lorelai, but now he wasn't sure if he could do it. He knew she'd give him hell if he called her this early, but the anticipation made it impossible for him to sleep. So instead he stared at the phone in his hands.

He thought of all of the calls he'd made to Lore in the past. Calling her to come over and play when they were kids. Calling her to ask her out on a date when they were teenagers. He could still remember how sweaty his palms were and how fast his heart beat the first time he got the courage to ask her out. Calling her late at night, and whispering into the wee hours of the morning when they were dating. Calling her from the road after Rory was born. Calling her to say he was coming to visit. Calling her to say he was sorry after he'd screwed up yet again. Calling her for help with Gigi when Sherry left. Calling her the morning after… Even the memory of the calls made him nervous. It was amazing that after more than 30 years that one woman could still make him feel so nervous.

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He got Gigi ready for school, and dropped her off on the way to his office. "Daddy, is Aunt Lorelai going to fix my costume?" Gigi asked as he kissed her goodbye.

"I haven't gotten a chance to call her yet G. Trust me, you don't want to call Aunt Lorelai before she gets a cup of coffee, or seven, in her system." Gigi looked at him in confusion, and he continued, "but don't worry. I told you I'd call her and I will. You have a good day and I'll see you when I get home." She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him goodbye.

He wanted to wait until he was alone to call her. He didn't know what the call would bring and he didn't want his daughter to hear him beg or see him cry.

It was 10:00 before he could summon the nerve to dial her phone number. He planned to call her at the Inn. He knew it was childish, but he was afraid that if she knew it was him calling she wouldn't take the call. He wiped his hands on his slacks and dialed her number. After two rings someone answered the phone.

"Dragonfly Inn, how may I help you?" Lorelai answered the phone.

"Lore, it's me, please don't hang up."

She sighed deeply before she spoke. "What do you want Christopher?" her tone was icy and it just made his heart beat faster.

"It's not me, it's Gigi…" he paused, not exactly sure how to continue.

"Is she okay?" Worry filled her voice. He had to give her credit, no matter how she felt about him, she would always love his kid.

"Her dance recital is coming up, and you-"

"Promised to make her costume." Lorelai finished his sentence. "I can't believe she remembered that."

"I tried to convince her that Molly, the housekeeper, could do it, but she just wouldn't go for it. She threw a massive temper tantrum. I thought she'd outgrown them, but apparently she still has a few left in her. I'm sorry to bug you, but I didn't know what else to do. I promised her I'd call you. If you want me to tell her you can't do it…" he paused again trying to think of what he would do if that was what she wanted him to tell her.

"It's okay Christopher. I said I'd make her costume and I will make her costume. I'm a woman of my word." He was grateful for her help but couldn't help but feel the sting of her statement. She always kept her word, and he rarely did, at least not while Rory was growing up.

"Thank you Lorelai," he said quietly.

"So when's the big show?" her tone was now cheerful. He could picture her standing behind the counter at the Inn, the phone pinned between her ear and her shoulder as she gave someone else instructions with her hands while she talked to him with her voice.

He flipped through the pages on his calendar, "it's Friday at 6:00."

"This Friday Chris?" she almost shouted.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know myself until last night. I can overnight the leotard to you today. She just wants to be special, I think a few sequins will do the trick." He ran his free hand through his hair and hoped that she wouldn't change her mind.

She sighed again deeply. "You'll probably send the wrong costume. I'll bring my stuff to you. Besides I'd like to see Gigi."

"Thanks for the faith Lore," he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'd buy the hurt tone in your voice if you didn't know I was right," she retorted. "What time does Gigi get home?"

"The housekeeper picks her up from school at 3:00, so by 3:30."

"Let the housekeeper know I'm coming and I'll try to be there by 4:00." He could hear her pen scratching things off of her calendar. She was rearranging her schedule for his daughter.

"Thank you so much Lorelai-"

She cut him off again, "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for Gigi. That girl needs one person in her life she can count on." When she finished speaking he heard the deafening silence of a broken connection. Lorelai Gilmore hung up on him.

He stared at the phone in his hand. She hung up on him. He couldn't believe she'd hung up on him. He was trying his best, he really was. He was so focused on the fact that she hung up on him that the bigger picture hadn't dawned on him yet.

She was coming.

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It was 6:00 on Monday morning and the alarm clock on Logan Huntzberger's nightstand told him so by beeping loudly in his ear. He was lying awake in his bed at the time, so he swiftly reached over and turned it off. Last night he had decided that he wanted to win Rory back, and at dinner with his friends and his sister they began to plan his approach. He was so anxious that he tossed and turned all night. He'd spent the last hour staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do first.

Last night at dinner, the group had decided that one of the friends needed to reestablish contact with Rory. None of them had talked to her since her graduation party to show support for Logan. Stephanie was the most obvious choice, because Honor was Logan's sister, and the guys were, well, guys. She'd begrudgingly agreed to the task. He knew her hesitation wasn't because she didn't like Rory, but because if this plan didn't work out, she'd probably have to give up the friendship again. She was emailing her last night after dinner, and now all he could do was wait.

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He got into his office around 9:00 and checked his email, hoping for a forward from Stephanie. Unfortunately, there was nothing from her in his inbox. Too keep from going crazy he did something he hadn't let himself do since he walked away. He googled her. His screen was instantly filled with thousands of mentions. Of course some of them weren't her, but most of them were. Stuff from Chilton, stuff from the Yale Daily News, stuff from Stars Hollow and the DAR, even the piece she'd written for Hugo that had upset him so much. He clicked on the link for that piece and waited for the page to load. It was the one thing she'd written in the time that they were together that he hadn't read once it was published.

He wasn't the sentimental type really. He didn't keep a book of her clippings, but he still felt a surge of pride when he saw her byline.

The story was better than he remembered. She had changed it, toned it down so it was not as harsh on the group she dubbed 'The Trust Fund Brigade.' It was witty and insightful, just as he expected, but it was also amazingly well written, truthful without being insulting. How his father had thought she 'didn't have it' was beyond him.

The next link he clicked was to a political blog. He knew she was traveling with the Obama campaign, but he'd made a conscious effort to avoid anything that she may have written. He had stopped reading political commentary, figuring if he needed to hear about it he could catch it on the nightly news or on the radio during his commute. Her blog sounded just like a conversation with her, it was funny and rambling, with the odd bit of pop culture thrown in, yet it conveyed the issues in a smart understandable way. He wasn't at all surprised that it was a very popular blog.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, distracting him momentarily from the blog. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the display screen. _Stephanie._ He quickly answered the call, "Hey Steph!"

"She doesn't hate you."

"Do you think you could forward me the rest of that email?" he asked.

"Nope," she told him firmly. "Girl code."

"Steph…" he whined.

"You're my best friend Logan, and I want nothing more than for you to be happy, but trust me when I say this, you don't want me to forward you this email."

"So, she does hate me!" he exclaimed.

"No, she doesn't! But she'd not your biggest fan right now, and if you want to win her back you're going to have work for it," she said.

"But she doesn't hate me?" he asked again.

"She doesn't hate you," Stephanie repeated.

As he hung up the phone he returned to reading her blog. The tour schedule was posted at the bottom of the page, but all he could think about was that she didn't hate him. He still might have a chance with his Ace! She didn't hate him. He was so distracted that he missed the bigger picture.

She was coming.

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**Author's Note:**

**Two chapters in one day! Don't get used to it, I just couldn't get this off my mind today. **

**I still don't own Gilmore Girls. **

**Thank you for all of the reviews I've gotten so far! You guys are the best! **


	3. Chapter 3 False Starts

It was 3:30 on Monday afternoon, and Christopher Hayden was in his office making a few final changes on a proposal before calling it a day. Lorelai was coming and he wanted to make sure he saw her. He spent an inordinately large portion of his day trying to plan for seeing her. He didn't want to be there when she arrived, partly because he wanted to give Gigi some time with her, and partly because as much as he wanted her back, he wasn't sure if he was ready for her to know that yet. He was pretty sure that if he told her what he wanted, she'd run for the hills. If he wanted to have any sort of a chance with her, he had to do it right. Lorelai Gilmore had been forgiving him for years, and he knew she was bound to reach her limit, probably sooner rather than later, if she hadn't already.

He dropped his proposal on his secretary's desk, with a note as to where it needed to be sent, and headed towards his car. His phone began to ring as he crossed the parking lot. A smile lit his face as he saw who the caller was.

"Daughter of mine!" he answered happily.

"Hey Dad! Someone's in a good mood today," Rory greeted him, her voice slightly suspicious.

"How are you, kid? How's the traveling circus?" he asked. He tried to direct the conversation away from himself. He wasn't sure he wanted Rory to know his intentions yet. The sudden marriage and subsequent divorce had been very difficult for her, and he didn't want her to feel as though she had to choose sides.

"I'm doing okay. The circus is about to make a loop through the great state of California though," she said rather glumly.

"I'm sorry," he said knowingly. "How are you doing with that?" For the most part they'd made a tacit agreement not to discuss their relationships. He didn't want to put her in the middle, and he knew if she needed to talk to someone about her problems it would likely be Lorelai and not him.

"It's hard. It's not like we broke up because we didn't love each other anymore. I want to hate him for giving me an ultimatum, but I don't know if I can," she confided. The fact that she was in pain made his heart break, but the smallest part of him was happy that she choose to confide in him.

"Hate is a waste of energy Rory. Just because you're not together doesn't mean you have to hate him."

"I know Dad, but I feel like if I hate him, I'll be able to get over him quicker."

Christopher nodded even though he knew she couldn't see him. He understood the desire to get over someone quickly. He hoped his daughter had better luck than he did. "So have you heard from him or anything?" he asked.

"Nope." She popped the p when she said the word. "But I did get an email from Stephanie yesterday."

"Who's Stephanie?" he asked, racking his brain trying to remember Rory's friends.

"Stephanie is one of Logan's best friends that became one of my close friends when Logan and I were together. I haven't heard from her since my graduation party," Rory explained.

"One of those kind of friends," he said even though he didn't really have much experience in that area. Both he and Lore ran their separate ways after Rory was born and therefore didn't have to deal with dividing up the friends, and recently, he was in her town, they were all her friends first. There was no contest, right now he was just feeling lucky if he made it through that part of Connecticut without getting his car egged or his tires slashed. "Are you going to email her back?"

"I already did. I figure either she wants to renew our friendship, which is okay I guess, because I kind of miss her, or Logan has sent her as an emissary, in which case at least I'll have a heads up as to what's coming."

"Would you want to get back together with Logan?"  
"I don't know," she said quietly. "Mom would hate that."

"Ror, it's not about what your mom, or anyone else, would like. It's about you, and being happy," he said, feeling a bit awkward giving fatherly advice.

"I know that, I really do. I just don't know what I want. I loved Logan. No, I still love Logan, I just don't know if I'm strong enough to go through that again. If he's even interested in putting things back together. Maybe us being apart is for the best, you know?"

Chris could hear the uncertainty in her voice, he wished he was there to hug her and reassure her. "You've gotta do what you've gotta do kid. Make yourself happy and the rest will fall into place, I promise. And if Logan doesn't want you back, then he's an even bigger idiot than I ever thought possible."

Rory chuckled on the other end of the phone, "Thanks Dad. I needed that. Oh! The bus is boarding, time to rejoin the circus. I'll talk to you soon. Give my love to Gigi. Love you."

"I love you too Ror. If you need anything just let me know, I'm only a phone call and a plane ride away." He smiled as he hung up the phone. As badly as he'd screwed up over the years his daughter still loved him. Maybe there was still hope for her mother.

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Christopher pulled into his driveway later than he anticipated. He smiled at the sight of Lorelai's Jeep™ parked at the curb. She was still there. He walked into his house quietly, for once not wanting to make his presence known immediately. He looked into the living room and saw Gigi showing Lorelai her dance routine.

"It'll be so pretty to have sparkles on my dress. Do you think we could make them light up when I spin?" she asked eagerly.

"Unfortunately I think the lights are going to be a no-go my little Margot Fonteyn," Lorelai told her. "I don't think your teachers or the rest of your classmates would appreciate the distraction… so lets just stick to 'sparkles.'"

"Okay Aunt Lorelai." Gigi went back to dancing around the room, and suddenly, her father leaning against the wall caught her attention. "Daddy!" she squealed, running across the room to launch herself into his arms.

"Wait, G! Let me put down the coffee," he said, as he quickly set the two to-go cups on the nearest flat surface. He picked up his daughter and kissed her head. "I brought you coffee," he told Lorelai. His mother had always taught him never to go anywhere empty handed, and today, that included going home to the woman he was in love with.

"Thanks Chris. What did you bring for yourself?" she teased as she eyed both of the cups.

He chuckled, "I was kind of hoping you'd share."

"Maybe. What kind did you bring?" she asked as she crossed the room to take one of the cups.

"Something called an Almond Joy Mocha, and a sugar free vanilla latte," he told her. She wrinkled her nose at the sugar free bit, and he knew his latte was safe.

"Sugar free? That's just disgusting Chris. I thought you had better taste," she chided him.

"I guess you haven't rubbed off on me enough yet." He meant for his tone to be teasing, but based on the look of mortification on her face, he pushed it just a little bit too far.

"Not cool Christopher," she said quietly. "So Gigi," she started in attempts to redirect the conversation, "what color 'sparkles' do you want?"

"Pink! No purple! No red!" Gigi kept changing her mind, causing Lorelai to laugh.

"How about we do rainbow?" she told her, "that way all of the colors are there!"

"Yeah!" Gigi cheered.

"Hey Gigi, before I forget, your big sister sends her love," Christopher said hoping to break the ice between he and Lorelai again.

"Really?" Gigi asked.

"Yep! She was calling from California today."

"Does she get to meet Mickey and Minnie while she's there?" Gigi asked, clearly remembering her only trip to California.

"Maybe. You'll have to ask her next time she calls." Gigi was satisfied with that answer and returned to dancing about the living room again.

"So you talked to Rory today?" Lorelai asked. He nodded. "She's in California?" He nodded again. "Did she say how she was?"

"She said she was doing okay." He wanted to tell her the whole conversation, but if Rory hadn't told Lorelai about Stephanie and being in California, there must have been a reason, and he didn't want to break her confidence. "Haven't you talked to her lately?"

"I talk to her every day," Lorelai started, "but she knows I wasn't Logan's biggest fan, so I think she holds some of that stuff back from me."

He had to give her credit. Lorelai Gilmore knew her daughter. "Give it time Lore," was the only thing he could think to say. She nodded in acknowledgement, then bent her head to begin attaching sequins to Gigi's leotard.

*******************************

An hour later Lorelai finished adding the sequins. "Gigi! It's done, come and look, I want to make sure you like it," she called out to the little girl, who had gone to play in another room.

Gigi came running into the room, "It's so pretty!" she exclaimed when she saw it. "Daddy what do you think?"

Christopher looked at the extremely sparkly costume, and silently said a prayer hoping that the dance teacher wouldn't mind the last minute costume alteration. "It's great G, what do you say?"

"Thank you Aunt Lorelai."  
"You're welcome sweetie, anything for you."

"Aunt Lorelai?" Gigi started hesitantly, "Will come to my show and watch me dance?"

Christopher looked at Lorelai waiting for her to respond. He really wanted her to say yes, but this was between the two of them, and he was going to stay out of it. He watched Lorelai smiling at Gigi trying to figure out how to answer, the internal struggle she was having was evident to him.

"Sure sweetie," she responded. He could tell that she wasn't thrilled to be doing this, but that she didn't want to let Gigi down and it was probably better than Friday Night Dinner. She looked down at her watch and spoke again, "It's getting late though, and I should probably go now, but I'll see you Friday."

Gigi nodded in excitement, then hugged Lorelai goodbye. Christopher got up to walk her to the door.

"Thank you again Lore..." he started.

"Don't Chris," she said firmly. "This is for Gigi, NOT for you."

He nodded in understanding and closed the door behind her when she left.

*******************************

Things definitely did not go as planned, but Christopher knew that he had at least one more chance.

*******************************  
*******************************

It was 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon and Logan Huntzberger was pacing around his office. He had a presentation to give in the very near future and he couldn't focus on it long enough to finish it. Rory was in California. She was due in San Francisco on Friday according to her tour schedule. She was in San Diego today, Los Angeles tomorrow, and Sacramento on Thursday. He looked at his own calendar and contemplated going to see her at an earlier stop. Sacramento wasn't that far away. Either way, he would be seeing Rory Gilmore this week.

He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Stephanie. He wasn't sure how much help she'd be because of the "Girl Code," but he had to try.

"I'm not forwarding you that email Logan, just give it up," she said when she answered the phone.

"Well hello to you too Stephanie."

"I'm serious Logan."

"I know! That's not why I'm calling. She's coming here. What should I do?" he asked his friend.

"I'm not really sure…" Stephanie paused for a moment.

"You've got to know something. Did her email give you any hints as to anything?" Logan was beginning to get annoyed. At this exact moment he was wishing Colin or Finn had been chosen to get back in touch with Rory, at least they'd be helpful with ideas. Finn loved a good scheme, and well Colin just tried to keep them out of trouble. "Are you planning on seeing her while she's in town?"

"I'm going to see her in L.A. tomorrow. We're meeting for drinks after the speech." He could tell she was not thrilled to give up this information.

"Great, I'll go with you and surprise her."

"No you won't Logan," she told him sternly. "You've got to do better than that. At least in San Francisco you can claim to be at the speech for work or something, but there's no reason for you to go to L.A."

"But what should I do?" he was practically begging for help.

"I think you've got to figure this one out on your own. You know her better than all of us. Look, I've got to go, I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Steph," he said, then disconnected the call.

Logan resumed pacing in his office as he thought about the situation. Steph was right, he did know her better than anyone, at least anyone that would help him. He thought of his past gestures to get her attention or win her forgiveness, flowers, doughnuts, jewelry, a coffee cart, none of those would work, not this time. He needed something _more. _He left his office telling his assistant that he was working from home for the remainder of the afternoon, and headed toward the hotel where Finn and Colin were staying. While Stephanie may have been right about him knowing Rory best, he disagreed with the idea that he needed to figure things out on his own.

*******************************

A sleepy Finn opened the door after Logan pounded on in for a full 30 seconds. "Mate, where's the fire?"

"Why are you still sleeping Finn? It's almost 5:00 in the afternoon," Logan asked curiously.

"Some of us need our beauty sleep," he replied.

"More like some of us didn't get home until 10:00 this morning," Colin chimed in from the living room of the suite.

"If you're here, why couldn't you get the door?" Finn asked Colin in a surly tone. Logan looked at the pair curious for the answer himself.

"Headphones," Colin said gesturing to the pair around his neck, "Finn snores like a bear."

"I do no such thing!" Finn shouted indignantly. "Tell him Mate."

"Sorry Finn, Colin's right. I can't believe I forgot how terribly you snore." Logan's response in support of Colin made Finn give him a dirty look.

"Fine then, I'll just return to bed," Finn said as he turned to go back to the bedroom.

"No wait!" Logan called out to stop him, "I need your help."

"Reporter Girl?" they both asked in unison. He nodded in confirmation.

They spent the next two hours coming up with the perfect plan of attack. In the end they decided he would go to the Sacramento speech on Thursday, and ask her to dinner after the speech. That couldn't go too horribly wrong could it?

*******************************

The day of the speech in Sacramento, Logan left work early to prepare for seeing Rory. He took the company car to the site of the speech, and stopped and got coffee and flowers on his way. He waited patiently throughout the speech, watching Rory from several rows behind her. He could watch her for hours, she was dressed in a dark suit with her hair up in a twist, and he could tell she was bent forward in concentration taking notes, on the speech of course, but also on the crowd reaction to the speech and the speaker. Once the speech was over, he moved swiftly towards the door and positioned himself, with the flowers, and a pound of her favorite coffee beans, near the door.

"Rory!" he called out loudly when she approached. She was engrossed in conversation with one of the other reporters, the guy he had seen her sitting next to during the speech. "RORY!" he called again louder. She finally looked up and he noticed that shock was the expression that registered on her face. Her cheeks flushed a little, but she changed her course to head in his direction.

"Logan. Hi," she said quietly when she finally reached him.

"I'm here to take you to dinner," he told her. "Hi I'm Logan," he addressed the man standing next to Rory. "Who's this Ace?"

"Peter, this is Logan. Logan this is Peter." Her introductions were mechanical and he couldn't help but notice that she left out all adjectives.

"So, let's go!" he said again, trying to take her to dinner. He held out the flowers and coffee for her to take.

"Peter, can you give me a minute?" Rory asked the man standing next to her.

All of the sudden it dawned on Logan, what if she'd moved on? What if Peter was more than just another reporter, what if he was her new _boyfriend_, he thought the word in distaste. "Frank and the car are waiting outside, I thought we'd go for dinner."

"Logan," she started in an exasperated tone, "you can't just show up here."

"Why not? It's a free country." His response was more flippant than he intended, but he was annoyed, this wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"That's not what I mean and you know it. You can't just show up here after a month of silence, and expect that I'm free to be whisked away to do whatever you want." She was really annoyed.

"It's just dinner. In this town even." He was trying to convince her.

"I already have plans. Had you given me any notice maybe I would have been able to get out of them," she told him coldly.

"But…" he started

"No. You have my phone number, you have my email address, if you want to see me or talk to me, use them." She turned on her heel to walk away.

"Rory, wait…" he called after her. She turned around but she didn't come back to him. "How about dinner tomorrow night in San Francisco? Colin, Finn, Honor and Stephanie are all in town, and I know they'd love to see you. Please? I'm asking in advance."

"Fine, I'll go, but only because I want to see THEM. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she was gone, off to whatever mysterious event she had with Peter. Logan watched her walk away until he could no longer pick out her form, then returned to his car.

*******************************

Things definitely did not go as planned, but Logan knew that he at least had one more chance.

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**Author's Note: I don't own Gilmore Girls (no surprise there). Thank you so much for all of the reviews!!! I'm amazed at the response! I'll try to get chapter 4 up later this week!**

**S**


	4. Chapter 4 Steps in the Right Direction

At 4:30 on Friday afternoon Christopher Hayden stood in front of his mirror and adjusted his tie. He smoothed his recently cut hair and adjusted the cuffs on his shirt. In an hour and a half he'd be seeing her, and he just wanted to look good. Dancers had to report an hour early, so he and Gigi were just getting ready to leave the house.

"Gigi!" he called, "are you ready to go?"

She came running down the hall wearing her costume. She was far too excited to understand that she could just wear regular clothes and change at the theater. "I'm ready Daddy!"

"Did you pack your bag for afterwards?"

"Yes. If I'm good can we get ice cream?" she asked.

"That's a possibility, why don't you ask your Aunt Lorelai?' he responded. He felt like a cad using his daughter, but he knew that Lorelai would probably not want to get dinner with him after the show, and spending two hours sitting next to her in silence wouldn't ease the feelings he had been having. He needed her. To talk to, to laugh with. At least Gigi would have a chance of getting her to go out for ice cream.

She nodded and ran out to the car. Christopher picked up her bag and called a quick thank you to Molly for helping Gigi get ready, he had no clue how to pin her hair up into a bun or apply stage make up. He was sure one of the other mothers at the theater would have done it, but he really didn't want to deal with the combination of lust and pity that accompanied them.

They reached the theater just in time, and Gigi ran off to join her classmates. He left Gigi's street clothes with one of the dance teachers and went to go find his seat. He knew he probably should have stuck around for a while to make sure everything was going smoothly, but he just couldn't handle making inane small talk. It entailed way too much polite detachment and he didn't think he could find it in himself to nicely tell a woman he wasn't interested. The way he was feeling right now he'd probably tell the unlucky lady to piss off because he was already in love with someone else, and that wouldn't be helpful.

*****************************

Once in his seat he took out his phone to send a text to Lorelai;_ L – Your ticket is at will call – C,_ and then closed his eyes to relax and wait. It wasn't long before his cell phone rang. He hoped it was Lorelai, but was equally glad when he realized it was Rory.

"Hey Dad!" she said when he answered.

"Hey Kid. How's the Sunshine State?" he asked.

"That's Florida Dad, we haven't been there yet." She laughed.

"I know, I know. I just thought you could use a laugh at my expense. How's California?"

"He showed up at the speech in Sacramento last night," she confessed.

"Did Stephanie warn you he was coming? It's Stephanie right?" he was trying to remember their conversation from the other day, but the anticipation of seeing Lorelai made things a little fuzzy.

"Yeah, it's Stephanie, but no, she didn't warn me. I did see her at the L.A. stop, and she would have mentioned it, so I don't think she knew," Rory explained.

"Well, how was it? Were there fireworks? Was it awkward?"

"Oh Dad," she started, "it was _so_ awkward. He just showed up with flowers and coffee, demanding to take me to dinner. I was with Peter and he interrupted us, forcing me to acknowledge him."

"So, did you tell him off?" Christopher asked curiously.

"Sort of. I told him if he wanted to see me he had to call or email to set it up first. But, tonight we're going to dinner after the San Francisco speech, with Stephanie, Colin, Finn and Honor." Rory sighed loudly, and he could tell she was frustrated.

"I'm sorry kid. Do you feel differently about him than you thought you did?"

"Nope. I still love him and I still don't know if I'm strong enough."

"Well enjoy your dinner tonight and see where it leads. You don't have to make a decision right now or anything, see your friends, eat a nice dinner, and just don't worry about the rest. If it's meant to be, it'll work out." He tried to encourage her.

"You're right… I just can't help it."

Christopher looked up to see Lorelai walking across the room towards him.

"Well Kid, your mom's here, so I'm going to let you go, but good luck tonight," he said trying to rush his eldest daughter off the phone.

"What?!? Mom's there? Where are you?" she asked in a shocked tone.

"It's your sister's dance recital. She invited your mom." He hoped that the truth was convincing. Then it dawned on him, "she didn't mention she was coming?"

"It must have slipped her mind. Well I guess I'll let you go Dad. Love you."

He knew Rory would get to the bottom of this eventually so he just let it go for now. "Love you too Ror. Have a good time tonight," he said with a smile as he stood up to greet Lorelai.

"Hey Lore, you look great," he said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. It was an old habit that he couldn't seem to break. Surprisingly she let him do it.

"You look good too. So how's Rory tonight?" she asked.

"How'd you know I was talking Rory?" he asked her.

"The 'Love you too Ror' kind of gave it away." She smiled.

"That could have been my great Aunt Aurora, who goes by Ror, you know," he told her teasing her.

"Christopher, I have met every single member of your family. You do not have an Aunt Aurora. The closest you have is an Aunt Trudie who makes my Aunt Totsie smell like heaven." She smacked him playfully on the arm. He feigned pain and rubbed his arm, then he crinkled his nose. "Remembering Aunt Trudie?" she asked with an evil look in her eyes.

"Thanks a lot Lore. Next time we're at a family event I'm going to make sure you get Totsied. At least twice."

"Ohhhh scary, I'd take a Totsie over a Trudie any day." She laughed. He loved her laugh. "So really, how's Rory?"

"She's doing okay. Still in California," he said not wanting to give anything away and break Rory's confidence.

"Yeah, she called me this morning to tell me about Logan showing up last night." Christopher nodded confirming that that's why she called him too.

"So, why didn't you tell her that you were coming here tonight?" he asked quietly. "It's not like you to keep things from her."

"It's no big deal. I just didn't want her to worry over nothing," she said as the house lights flashed. "The show is starting."

"Nothing?" he whispered. What did that mean? If it was truly nothing she would have mentioned it, wouldn't she?

She shushed him, and the lights went out to start the show.

*****************************

"She really did a great job," Lorelai said when the lights came up after the show.

"She sure did," Christopher enthused proudly. Gigi came running out from backstage and launched herself at her father.

"Daddy! Did you see me? How did I do?" she asked.

"You did great sweetie!" he exclaimed.

"You really did," Lorelai added.

"Aunt Lorelai! You came!" Gigi squealed.

"Of course I came, I told you I would."

"Could you see my 'sparkles' from where you were?" she asked.

Christopher and Lorelai nodded in unison. There probably wasn't a seat in the house that couldn't see Gigi's 'sparkles.'

Lorelai leaned into Chris and whispered, "The teacher wasn't too mad was she?"

He shrugged, "I don't think so, but you might be getting a call next year to do the costumes for all of the girls." She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. "Real mature Lore."

"I know you are, but what am I?" she retorted, and he laughed.

"Aunt Lorelai!" Gigi started, bringing the attention back to her, "can we go get ice cream?"

"That's up to your dad," Lorelai told her diplomatically.

"Daddy said I had to ask you," Gigi replied. "He said we could only go if you go with us."

"Chris?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"Gigi! I did not say that and you know it," he scolded.

"Sorry dad," she whispered.

"I said she should ask you, to see if you wanted to come along too," he explained. She gave him a wary look. "It's only ice cream, ColdStone™ is only a few blocks away." He tried to make her feel comfortable.

Instead of answering him she looked at Gigi. "What did you have for dinner G?" she asked.

"We haven't had dinner yet. I had to be here early," Gigi explained tentatively, probably hoping her chances of ice cream wouldn't be destroyed.

"Christopher, you can't feed your daughter ice cream for dinner!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "We'll go get dinner first, then ice cream." She gave Gigi a grin, and took her by the hand to lead her out of the theater. "Come on Daddy Warbucks, you're buying us dinner," she called to Christopher.

*****************************

An hour later the three of them were seated in a booth at the local Red Robin, and Gigi was chatting away happily at Lorelai sharing every detail of her life. Christopher leaned back and watched. The woman he loved completely absorbed by his daughter. This was the life he wanted. He was completely lost in his own world when he heard Lorelai calling for him.

"Earth to Christopher!"

He shook his head to clear the daydream, "Sorry, what was that?"

"Gigi's done with dinner, and I was wondering if you wanted to still go to the ice cream place, or if you wanted to just get dessert here," she explained.

"What do you think G? Is there something here that you'd like for dessert, or do you still want to go to ColdStone™?" he asked his daughter. At this exact moment a waiter passed with a very large slice of Mud Pie and Gigi was watching it pass in awe.

"Can I get that Daddy?" she asked pointing to the dessert.

"Only if you can convince Aunt Lorelai to share it with you. I think that's bigger than your head Gigi."

"Please Aunt Lorelai," she whined.

"You don't need to ask me twice," Lorelai told her.

A few minutes later the waiter brought the dessert and 3 forks. Christopher reached out to pick up his fork and Lorelai deftly snatched it, putting it out of his reach. He looked at her curiously. "There's barely enough here for me and Gigi, if you wanted some you should have ordered your own." This made Gigi giggle, and Christopher pick up the entire plate poising his face over the dessert to get a bite. "All right, all right, we'll share!" Lorelai said offering him a fork.

"Thanks for coming tonight Aunt Lorelai, I can't remember the last time we had this much fun!" Gigi had a smear of chocolate across her cheek.

"How did you manage to get out of Friday Night Dinner?" Christopher asked her.

"I told the truth. By the way, next week my parents are expecting both of you for dinner on Friday night." She rushed through the last part of her sentence hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Lore!" he whined

"Chris!" she whined back. "It's only fair, so just suck it up."

*****************************

After dessert, Christopher and Lorelai left the restaurant to head back to their cars, Gigi was asleep in her dad's arms.

"Thanks for coming tonight Lore," he said sincerely.

"I'd do anything for that kid," she said nodding down at Gigi.

"I'll call you-" he started, but was cut off by a sharp look from her, so he quickly amended, "I'll see you next Friday at dinner."

"Good night Christopher," she said and she bent down to kiss Gigi on the head.

"Good night," he said in return.

*****************************

It wasn't quite what he'd hoped, but Christopher Hayden had a good time, and he knew he'd be seeing her again.

*****************************

*****************************

It was 4:30 on Friday afternoon and Logan Huntzberger was trying frantically to get out of his office. He had dinner reservations with Rory, and the rest of his friends, at 6:00, and he wanted to go home and get ready first. His phone just would not stop ringing. Finally at 5:00 sharp he slapped the Do Not Disturb button on his phone and dashed from his office, calling a quick "See you Monday" to his secretary. He was in the elevator before anyone could stop him to ask any more questions.

Five minutes into his commute he realized he'd never make it home and to the restaurant in time, traffic was just too bad, so he made a quick left and headed to the hotel where his friends were staying. Again he found himself pounding on Finn's door waiting for an answer, this time Colin answered with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Hey Logan, I thought we were meeting you at the restaurant?" he asked suspiciously.

"I got stuck at work, and couldn't make it home and back in time, can I possibly use your room to freshen up a bit?" he asked. "And where's Finn?"

"Sure _Miss Huntzberger_ you can freshen up here. Finn is probably at the pool trying to get the redheaded lifeguard to give him her number."

Logan shot Colin a dirty look for the Miss Huntzberger comment, but entered the room and headed straight for the bathroom all the same. Colin went to his room to get dressed, then called to him, "I'm going to go wrangle Finn, there's some lipstick in the drawer on the right dear!" Logan rolled his eyes and looked in the mirror. His usually artfully arranged hair was sticking up in all directions, so he ran water in the sink and began to rearrange his hair. Once he got his hair back in order he straightened his tie, hoping it would hide the small stain on his shirt caused by his morning cup of tea. He was again annoyed that he didn't have time to go home and change, but he knew that asking one of the guys to borrow a shirt would just be asking for further teasing.

"Logina!" Finn called as he entered the suite, "Where are you?"

"Ugh. Not you too Finn!" Logan shouted from the bathroom. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Yeah Mate," Finn answered, "but why do you want to go so early?"

"I want to beat Rory to the restaurant," he said exiting the bathroom to find Honor and Stephanie waiting with the guys.

"Why?" Colin asked, "They won't seat her until the whole party is there."

"I know that, but they'll probably seat the 5 of us without her," he said.

"I don't understand Logan," Honor said. "Why does it matter?"

"I know Ace. She's coming tonight, not because I asked, or to see me, but to see all of you. If she's there before us, she'll wait in the bar. She won't ask to be seated, because then I could sit next to her. If we all sit down at the same time, you can bet she won't sit next to me. But, if we're all there first, the only spot left at the table will be next to me, and she's not the type that will ask someone to switch." Honor looked confused, and Finn and Colin looked annoyed, only Stephanie looked like she understood. Probably because it was a tactic she might employ herself.

"All right everybody, let's go," Stephanie said. They all headed down to the valet to get a car. Logan's car wouldn't hold 5 people, and neither would either of the rentals, so they used one of the hotel limos.

*****************************

They arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, before Rory arrived, and the hostess, with a generous tip from Logan, seated them straight away. The only spot left at the table was next to Logan. They had just placed their drink orders when Rory arrived.

"Rory!" Stephanie called, waving her over to the table.

"Reporter Girl!" Finn called. He stood up to hug her and picked her up spinning her around. Logan wished he could be the one to do that, but knew after his experience yesterday that it would be a very bad idea.

"Finn!" she said breathlessly, "could you put me down please?" He obediently set her down. "Hey everybody," she smiled addressing the rest of the table.

"Hey Rory!" Stephanie and Honor said in unison.

"Hi," Colin said gruffly looking down at his menu. Logan had the urge to kick him under the table.

"Hey Ace," Logan said, standing up to pull out her chair. "Glad you could make it tonight." She gave him a small tight smile and took her seat.

"So what's good here?" she asked as she looked at the menu. Everyone at the table looked at Logan because he was the only one that lived in the area.

"No clue," he said, "I've never been here before." She looked up at him with surprise.

"If it doesn't come from a take out box, Logan probably hasn't tried it." Finn said from across the table. This caused Rory to raise and eyebrow at Logan, and Logan to shoot Finn a death glare and shrug at Rory. He didn't want Rory to know what her refusal had done to him.

"Rory, how's the campaign trail?" Stephanie asked. Logan glanced at her and gave her a grateful smile.

"It's good. A little tiring. I'm beginning to loathe the bus. But I've made a few friends, and I'm glad I took the job." Logan wondered exactly what kind of friends she had made.

"Honor, how's married life? How's Josh?" Rory asked.

Honor smiled before she answered, "Married life is great. Josh is just fabulous. I'm headed home to see him tomorrow. He wanted to come out here with us, but was stuck working."

"And Colin, are you enjoying your summer before starting law school? Are you staying at Yale for law school?" Rory asked. Logan could tell she was trying to catch up with everyone.

"Yeah, I'm going to Yale for law school. I'm trying to enjoy my summer, but my dad wants me in the office meeting people and getting experience," he grumbled, he was still looking down at his drink, refusing to meet her eyes.

The waitress arrived and took their order, after which Rory got up and excused herself to the restroom, and of course being girls, Stephanie and Honor followed suit.

"What the hell Colin?" Logan asked as soon as the girls were out of earshot. "You were the one on her side when you guys showed up at my house on Sunday."

"Yeah Mate, what's going on?" Finn chimed in.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again," Colin responded.

"That's my choice to make. But that's not why you're being an ass, so out with it." Logan told him.

"Fine. I like Reporter Girl. Don't get me wrong Logan, you're my best friend and I'll always be on your side, but I don't want to be friends with her again only to have to stop when decide this isn't what you want anymore." Colin looked down at his hands.

"I didn't ask you to choose," Logan said defending himself.

"Best friends shouldn't have to ask," Finn interjected supporting Colin.

"Well it's a moot point right now because I won't change my mind. This is what I want. She's who I want. So Colin, stop being an ass!"

"Fine," Colin said with a phony smile.

The girls returned to the table and conversation began to flow easier. When dinner arrived the conversation split up into smaller groups. Stephanie and Honor were discussing gossip from the Hartford Circle, and Colin and Finn were planning a Life and Death Brigade reunion event, which left Logan and Rory to talk.

"You're enjoying the campaign trail then?" Logan asked her.

"For the most part," she answered, "but it does get lonely at times."

"How's Lorelai doing with you being so far away?"

"She's doing okay. She's pretty wrapped up in her own life at the moment."

"Did she and Luke put things back together?" he asked. Despite the fact that Lorelai didn't really like him, he had nothing against her.

"They kissed at the graduation party the town threw for me. They're trying to put it back together, but Luke is still keeping her at arms length. He's not letting her get to know April, and keeping that huge part of his life separate, so I don't know if it'll actually go anywhere," she paused for a moment, then continued, "She's out with my dad tonight."

"Maybe Luke's right to keep her at arms length then?" Logan posited. Rory gave him a dirty look. "What? Isn't Christopher the reason they had problems in the first place?"

"No. Luke is the reason they had problems in the first place. Now that he has April, he should understand that Anna will never be out of his life, just like my dad will never be out of my mom's life," Rory explained. "Besides, she's just at Gigi's dance recital. It's nothing illicit."

"I guess I can see it that way," he conceded.

"Good. So how's the new job?" she asked.

"I really like it, it's great to be out from under Herr Huntzberger's thumb," he said. "I have some really great ideas, and the people here listen to me, not because they have to, but because I'm right."

"I knew you could do it Logan. I'm really happy for you," she told him. "How's everything else?"

"Lonely."

"Buck up Huntzberger, it'll get better." She smiled at him. A genuine smile, and at the moment, he could actually see his life getting better.

"Rory, I miss-" she cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth.

"Please don't Logan. Not now, not here." He nodded, accepting her wishes.

The waitress picked this time to show up and take empty plates and dessert orders.

*****************************

After dessert, coffee and after dinner drinks were consumed, the party headed for the door.

"Good night Rory! It was great to see you," Honor said, hugging her good-bye.

"Twice in one week Gilmore, I like it!" Stephanie said as she hugged Rory. "Keep in touch."

"You too," Rory told her.

"Bye Reporter Girl," Colin said as he hugged her.

"Why Colin, I'm shocked at such an outpouring of emotion from you," she teased as she hugged him back.

Finn just hugged her and drunkenly kissed her on the forehead. "Night Finn!" she called as he left the restaurant.

Soon all that remained were Logan and Rory. His friends had all made a point to say goodbye and leave, giving him a chance for the last word. He opened his arms to hug her. "Goodbye Ace," he said as she walked into his arms.

"You can email me when you get lonely Logan," she whispered in his ear.

*****************************

*****************************

It wasn't quite what he'd hoped, but Logan Huntzberger had a good time, and he knew he'd be seeing her again.

*****************************

**Author's Note: Still don't own Gilmore Girls, Matt Czuchry or David Sutcliffe. Sorry if it seems a little awkward, the only way I could think to get any Lorelai info in there was through a Rory/Logan conversation. **

**As always, thanks for the reviews, and I look forward to your feedback. Don't worry Miguel51, I know it looks like things are perking up for the guys, but there are more roadblocks to come. **

**Thanks for reading-**

**S**


	5. Chapter 5 Progress

It was 9:00 on Sunday night and Christopher Hayden was sitting in his office at home trying to formulate a plan. He was having dinner with the Gilmores on Friday night, and he wanted to earn some extra points with Lorelai before then. It was going to be awkward and he needed an ally. This past Friday night had been, if not perfect, much better than he expected. He had learned in the past week that he couldn't be too forward, he couldn't push too hard, but if he could keep it light, it worked.

He wanted to send her something, something that said 'thank you,' without implying anything more. He didn't want to send something that hinted at romance or something that made a reference to their past. If that was the case he'd track down a Pinky Tuscadero tee-shirt and send it to her, or he'd replace her rhinestone penis shirt. Rory had told him the story of her wearing it to Friday Night Dinner, but what Rory hadn't known was that he bought her that shirt as a joke years before. No, he needed something that said 'friends' without alluding to more than that. He surfed the net hoping to find something.

Finally it dawned on him, he'd send flowers. Not the traditional roses, which screamed either "I love you" or "I screwed up," but something different. Daisies. Perfect. He found a flower shop online that delivered and placed an order for a bouquet of daisies to be delivered to her at work on Monday. He added a note to the card that simply read _Thank you for all of your help – Chris & Gigi. _With that task taken care of he headed into the living room to watch Sports Center before going to bed.

*********************************

It was lunch time on Monday when his phone chimed with an incoming text. _C – Completely uncalled for. –L_ He frowned when he read the message, obviously she received the flowers and did not understand the significance of daisies, so he quickly shot back, _but daisies are the friendliest flower_. He hardly had time set his phone down when it chimed again. _What are you talking about? _She really didn't know what the daisies meant. _Haven't you seen You've Got Mail?_ His phone was silent for a while; at which point he gave up and went back to work. An hour later it chimed again, _No, must have missed that one. _Well that explained that, although he was surprised that Lorelai the pop-culture guru missed anything. He sent back a two-word text: _Watch it._

Christopher had seen way too many Meg Ryan movies. Sherry loved Meg Ryan and therefore owned almost every movie she'd ever made, and had subjected Christopher to watching them with her. Her favorites seemed to be the 'Tom and Meg Trifecta,' which consisted of Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail. He watched them because it pleased her, but he never told her the truth. Meg Ryan reminded him of Lorelai. They looked nothing alike, but Meg Ryan, or at least the most of the characters she played, had a quirky personality with an offbeat sense of humor, just like Lorelai.

*********************************

Tuesday morning around 10:00 just as he was about to step into a meeting, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket to silence it and noticed the caller: Lorelai. Without hesitating he answered the call and turned around heading back to his office.

"Hold on a sec," he said when he answered the phone, then he looked to his expectant coworkers, "Sorry, family emergency, I'll be right back."

"Family emergency?" she said.

"You never call me, it has to be important."

"So, what are you missing to talk to me?" she asked.

"Nothing really, they'll hold the meeting for me," he answered.

"You're holding up an entire meeting to talk to me? That's really irresponsible," she scolded.

"Like I said, you never call so it must be important. So what can I do for you this morning?"

"That movie was really, really bad Chris. I thought you had better taste."

"I do. But I thought that got my point across rather well."

"You want to 'be my friend' after all these years?" she asked curiously.

"Exactly. Look, I've known you for more than 30 years. I've finally come to the conclusion that my life would suck without you, so I figure friendship is better than nothing," he confessed.

"Thank you Kelly Clarkson," she retorted.

"Lore-" he started.

"No Chris. I get it. I just need to process this. I just don't know." She hung up the phone.

He stared down at the phone in his hand, wondering if he really meant what he said. He knew he was in love with her, but he truly didn't know how she felt about him. He knew she could never hate him, but he didn't know if she loved him, or even liked him. It was true that his life would suck without her, but he wasn't sure if just her friendship would ever be enough. He was however, willing to try to find out. At this point he was willing to settle for whatever she would give him, even if it was just a lack of animosity.

He shook his head to bring himself back to the present and headed to his meeting.

*********************************

It was Thursday afternoon, and it had been more than 48 hours since Lorelai hung up on him. He was beginning to think that she couldn't even fathom being just friends with him.

"Mr. Hayden?" his secretary said as she entered his office.

He looked to meet her eyes. "Yes?"

"There's a delivery for you."

"You can bring it in here," he told her wondering why she hadn't done so already.

"Okay sir," she said hesitantly leaving to retrieve whatever it was. She returned a minute later with a box the size of a ream of paper; it was wrapped in brown paper and just had his name on the outside in black marker, addressed by an unfamiliar hand. No wonder she was leery, it looked rather suspicious.

"Thank you," he told her, hoping she would understand that he meant that as her cue to leave.

She left his office, and he eagerly ripped open the package, wondering who had something couriered to him. The box was filled with mangoes and there was a small card in the box. The card read: _CH30+ I hope your mangoes are ripe. Inngirl_

He tipped his head back and laughed. She was willing to try to be friends. Friday Night Dinner didn't seem nearly so bad now.

*********************************

Things might not have been going exactly as he had planned, but Christopher Hayden was none the less pleased with the progression.

*********************************

*********************************

It was 9:00 on Sunday night and Logan Huntzberger was sitting in his home office. His friends had left today, and for the first time in a week he was completely alone. He poured himself a scotch and stared at his computer screen. Rory told him he could email her if he was lonely, but he wasn't sure he was ready to do that. What did that say about him if he was lonely only a few hours after his friends left? Although he wasn't quite sure whom he was trying to fool, he was lonely even when his friends were there. He could just distract himself from it more easily. He was lonely without her, period. He sighed deeply and opened his email to create a new message.

_To: Rory Gilmore_

_From: Logan Huntzberger_

_Re: Lonely_

_Hey Ace,  
You said I could email you when I got lonely, so here I am. Colin, Finn and Stephanie left today and I'm lonely already. Any suggestions as to what I should do to pass the time?_

_Logan_

He spent the next hour surfing the net hoping that she'd be at her computer and write him back, but a few minutes after 10:00 he finally gave up and turned off his computer. He went into his living room to read for a while before heading to bed.

*********************************

It took everything Logan had to go to work without checking his email at home, but he knew that Rory wasn't a morning person, and therefore the chances were slim that she'd emailed him back already this morning. Work was hectic on Mondays, he had so many phone calls and work emails to return that he didn't think about checking his personal email again until noon. To his delight she had finally responded.

_To: Logan Huntzberger_

_From: Rory Gilmore_

_Re: re: Lonely_

_Logan,  
I'm sorry your friends left and that you're lonely. After seeing all of you on Friday for dinner the road has been particularly lonely for me as well. The best I can suggest is to either make some work friends or get into a really good book. I'm reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and that works pretty well for me. I'd say call home, because that seems to help me, but Lorelai and Christopher are nothing like Mitchum and Shira, so maybe that won't help you.  
Good luck!  
Rory_

He laughed at loud at her email, first because he actually was reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as well, and she was right, it was pretty good, and second, because there wasn't enough money on the planet to make him willingly call Mitchum or Shira. He knew it and so did she. He really missed her and her sense of humor, and was sad to hear that seeing him and his friends made her feel worse on the road. He had to do something to try to make her feel better. Suddenly brilliance struck him. He checked her blog to see where her next stop was. She was to be in Boise, Idaho tomorrow, then Portland, Oregon on Thursday, and Seattle, Washington on Friday. He looked up the location of the speech in Boise and found the hotel that the press corps would be staying at.

He looked at his afternoon calendar, it was a little after noon and he had a meeting at 2:00, he could make it in time if he hurried. He got his car from the garage and raced to the nearest video store. He purchased a copy of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, then he went to the nearest grocery store and purchased as much non-perishable junk food as he could manage, a bag of assorted chocolate candies, popcorn, Red Vines™ and marshmallows. He grabbed a card by the cash register and asked for directions to an overnight shipping company.

He entered the shipping store and asked for a large box. He filled the box with the candy and the movie, then wrote a note in the card and stuffed a bill into it. _Ace – I'm sorry you're lonely. Hopefully this will help. The $50 is for the perishable junk food I can't ship, you know ice cream and pizza. I promise I'm not being lavish, I just don't have any smaller bills. Love, Logan_

He took a large black marker and wrote 'Gilmore Survival Kit' in all caps on the outside of the box, then handed it over to the clerk to be wrapped and shipped.

*********************************

He made it back to his office just in time for his meeting, and didn't think about his actions for the remainder of the day. When he got home later that night though he realized he should probably at least let Rory know to expect something, otherwise she may not get the package at all.

_To: Rory Gilmore_

_From: Logan Huntzberger_

_Re: re: RE: Lonely_

_Ace-  
I sent something for you to the Boise hotel. And you're right about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I'm reading it too and enjoying it.  
Logan_

*********************************

It was Thursday afternoon and Logan hadn't heard from Rory since the email she sent him Monday morning. Not a word. Not an email telling him that he shouldn't have sent anything or even an text message saying she got his gift. He checked the tracking on the package and knew it was delivered in Boise on Tuesday morning as it should have been, and he read her blog, so he knew she was in attendance for the Boise speech. He was extremely anxious, every noise his phone made had him jumping a mile, and every time his computer indicated he had new mail his heart started to race.

Once again his computer beeped to tell him he had mail and he eagerly looked at the screen, something from her, finally.

_To: Logan Huntzberger_

_From: Rory Gilmore_

_Re: Survival Kit_

_Logan,  
Thank you so much for sending supplies. I actually brought my copy of Willy Wonka with me, but I appreciate the junk food, as did my roommate. It was really unnecessary, but that's the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a while.  
Thanks again.  
Rory_

A smile overtook his entire face. He had done something right, and she had appreciated it. Logan quickly formulated his next step.

*********************************

Things might not have been going exactly as he had planned, but Logan Huntzberger was none the less pleased with the progression.

*********************************

*********************************

**Author's Note: I know this is much shorter that I usually write, but I wanted to show some friendly banter. **

**In case you haven't seen it, You've Got Mail is a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie from the late 90's. The daisies and the mangoes as well as the nicknames in her note both come from that movie. (in the movie he's NY152 and she's shopgirl, hence inngirl, (she owns an inn) and CH30+ (his initials plus the time she's known him)).**

**Next up: Friday Night Dinner and Logan's next (mis)step. Drama should ensue. **


	6. Chapter 6 Friday Night Dinners

It was 6:00 sharp on Friday night and Christopher Hayden pulled into the driveway of the Gilmore's house in Hartford. He looked over to see Lorelai's Jeep™ parked on the other side of the driveway and instantly felt better. He opened the door to his BMW and stepped out in to the warm summer night. He went around to the passenger side, and opened the rear door to help Gigi out of her booster seat. He quickly inspected her as she got out of the car, hoping that she managed to stay clean between Boston and Hartford. Emily Gilmore would never let him hear the end of it if Gigi showed up messy.

"Daddy? Where are we again?" Gigi asked.

"We're at Aunt Lorelai's parents for dinner, you remember Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore," he told her.

"Oh yeah. Is Aunt Lorelai going to be here?"

"Of course! Don't you see her Jeep™ over there?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. I forgot," Gigi said quietly, taking her father's hand as they approached the very imposing front door. "This house is almost as big as Grandma Francine's."

Christopher nodded in agreement. "Almost as big," he said, and then added under his breath, "and almost as scary." He reached out and rang the doorbell.

Half a minute later no one had come to the door, so he rang again. A few seconds later Emily Gilmore opened the door.

"Hello Christopher, hello Georgia. Please come in," she said. Gigi ran into the house to go find Lorelai.

"Hello Emily," Christopher said politely, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "You look well."

"Thank you Christopher. I'm sorry to make you wait, the new maid is so incompetent that she's probably answering the phone every time the doorbell rings," Emily said with frustration. Christopher knew the maid would probably be gone by tomorrow morning.

"Aunt Lorelai!" he heard Gigi shriek in the background. He and Emily headed back towards the living room for cocktails and he encountered Lorelai attempting to walk towards him, but being held up by Gigi launching herself into Lorelai's arms.

"Hello G, you look very pretty today," Lorelai told her.

"Thank you, you look pretty too," Gigi responded. Christopher smiled at his daughter's best society politeness and the sight of them together.

He approached Lorelai and kissed her cheek, "The mangoes were ripe, thank you very much." He realized she tensed up immensely when he touched her. He looked up to see a very angry Luke Danes in the living room behind her.

"Sorry," she whispered tersely. Christopher plastered a fake smile on his face and continued into the living room.

"Christopher, my boy, how are you? Can I get you a scotch?" Richard asked him.

"Thank you Richard, a scotch would be terrific. I'm doing well, how about yourself?" Christopher responded.

"Very well, very well. Does anyone else need a drink? Luke? Lorelai?" Richard asked.

"Martini please!" Lorelai answered holding up her glass.

"I'm fine at the moment, thank you for the offer Richard," Luke answered. Christopher seated himself on the couch across from Lorelai and Luke, and Gigi was sitting next to him nervously.

"Daddy," she whispered in his ear, "who is that man with Aunt Lorelai?"

"Why don't you ask her?" he whispered back.

"Aunt Lorelai, who's that?" Gigi asked pointing at Luke.

"Gigi, it's rude to point," Emily scolded.

"Emily, give the girl a break," Richard scolded in return.

Gigi ignored them both in favor of waiting for an answer from Lorelai, as did Christopher.

"This is my friend Luke. He makes the French fries you enjoy so much when you come visit me in Stars Hallow." Lorelai explained with a smile. Gigi nodded in understanding and the room remained quiet for a moment. Christopher and Luke were exchanging death stares.

"Excuse me Mrs. Gilmore, dinner is ready," the maid said meekly from the doorway.

"Thank you Louisa. Let's head into the dining room." Emily led the way into the dining room hoping conversation would pick up once dinner began.

******************************

Dinner conversation was equally awkward. Christopher and Richard discussed business, Lorelai and Emily argued about a possible expansion at the inn, Gigi picked at her food and Luke alternated between looking at his plate and looking at the ceiling.

"Excuse me," Lorelai said as she scooted her chair back. Emily gave her a curious look and she responded by very obviously mouthing the word _bathroom_ to her mother, which of course made Emily cringe at the very thought of such a topic being mentioned at the dinner table.

A minute later Christopher excused himself and followed Lorelai into the bathroom.

"Christopher, what are you doing in here?" she asked him when he entered the bathroom.

"I thought it was the code."

"Nope, today I just have to go to the bathroom."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, knowing there was more to it.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"About what?" he asked, having a pretty good idea what she was talking about, but wanting to hear her say it.

"Luke."

"What about Luke? That he's here? Or that you didn't even give me warning that he'd be here?" Christopher hypothesized angrily.

"Either. Both. Take your pick," she told him quietly.

"What's going on Lore?" he asked. She looked at him hesitantly and didn't say anything. "I thought we just decided this week that we could be friends," he reminded her.

She exhaled loudly before starting to speak. "Luke and I, we're trying to make things work. But it's hard."

Inside Christopher felt his heart crack. He remained silent waiting for her to continue, but it didn't appear that she was going to. "Does that mean you can't even talk to me?" he asked.

"No, of course not. I've made it clear to him that I won't abandon Gigi, and that he's going to have to get used to it. But it just makes things tough."

"He has a daughter too right? He should know what it's like." Christopher stated, trying to make a case for their friendship.

"I don't know. He refuses to talk about it," she said sadly. "He just won't let me in. And me talking to you seems to make it worse." Lorelai looked close to tears. He couldn't help himself, he did what he always did, he opened his arms to give her a hug. She stepped into his arms and his heartbeat quickened.

"I'm sorry Lore. Is there anything I can do?" He hoped she wouldn't ask him to try to back out of her life.

"This is good." Her voice was muffled against his chest. She stepped back and looked at him. "Well there is one thing…."

"What?"

"Could you leave so I could use the bathroom?" she asked with a grin.

"Of course." He smiled at her and then left the bathroom, returning to the dining room.

******************************

Upon returning to the table Christopher made a point to be nice to Luke. He wanted to stay in Lorelai's life, and if Luke was going to be around for the foreseeable future, the least he could do was try to be the bigger man.

"So Luke, how's the diner business?" he asked, hoping that all traces of sarcasm were gone from his voice. "Have you had to reduce your coffee order since there's only one Gilmore Girl in town to consume it?" He knew how much his girls loved their coffee.

Luke looked up at him with a curious look on his face. "Now that you mention it, I have needed less coffee since Rory went on the campaign trail. I guess that explains that mystery." Lorelai reentered the room just as Luke was finishing his sentence.

"What mystery?" she asked.

"Why I've been going through coffee slower than usual," he explained.

"Well Rory is on the other side of the country at the moment," Lorelai teased. Christopher smiled, as the look on Luke's face was priceless. He was stunned. "What?" she asked likely noticing his expression.

"I never even put two and two together," Luke said.

"Never underestimate the power of a Gilmore and her love of coffee," Lorelai told him.

"Lorelai, really-" Emily started.

"Oh Emily, goodness knows you love your coffee too," Richard chided his wife and she smiled and turned slightly pink.

Christopher laughed quietly at how pleased Emily seemed to be to have something in common with her daughter and granddaughter.

"Daddy," Gigi asked, "can I be done yet?" He looked at her plate and tried to remember how much was there in the first place. The maid had cut it up for her so he didn't have to, which was nice, but now he had no clue how much she'd actually eaten. He glanced over at Lorelai silently asking for help, wondering if she'd noticed how much Gigi had eaten. She nodded her head once in a hardly noticeable manner.

"Just three more bites G, then you can be done," he told her. He noticed a small smile playing on Lorelai's lips.

Gigi stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, but went ahead and ate the requisite bites. When she finished Emily called out to the maid, "Louisa can you come take Georgia's plate?" The maid entered the room and looked around likely trying to determine who Georgia was. Emily sighed loudly and looked at the maid, "This is Georgia," she used a wave of her hand to point to Gigi. The maid nodded and picked up her plate.

"Gigi, would you like to watch a movie while the grown ups finish dinner?" Richard asked. Lorelai's jaw dropped, and Emily gave him a sharp look. A look of delight filled Gigi's face.

"No fair Dad, I never got out of dinners when I was her age," Lorelai whined.

"Well Lorelai, times have changed. Gigi if you'd like, you can go up to Rory's old room, I believe there are some old videos up there." Richard told her.

"Come on Gigi, I'll take," Lorelai piped up.

"Nonsense Lorelai, the maid can do it," Emily told her curtly. Lorelai pouted at her mother.

"Actually I'll take her, that way I can help her find an appropriate movie," Christopher said. "Come on Gigi." Gigi hopped out of her chair to follow him and Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled and Luke grimaced.

******************************

Christopher got Gigi settled in with The Wizard of Oz and a promise that the maid would bring her dessert.

When he once again returned to the dining room he found Richard and Emily discussing their upcoming social calendar and Lorelai and Luke having a whispered conversation so he could not discern the topic, but the forced feeling of calm that was emanating from them gave Christopher the feeling that the topic was not a happy one. He resumed his seat and began to finish the now cold steak on his plate.

"So Christopher," Emily started, "I heard that Georgia had a dance recital last week, is she going to be the next prima ballerina at the American Ballet Company?"

"Well, I'm not sure about that. She enjoys it a lot though, so I'm sure she'll keep taking lessons for a while."

"Lorelai took dance lessons at that age," Richard said fondly.

"And I hated every minute of them," Lorelai said. "Rory took them at that age too, and she loved them, but she was so clumsy it was painful to watch."

"Lorelai!" Luke scolded.

"What? It's the truth, she knows it and she's not even here. I don't see what the big deal is."

"She's your daughter. It's just wrong," Luke told her. Christopher hid his smile behind his napkin. If Lorelai and Rory had a typical relationship he might be tempted to agree with Luke, but since that was not the case, he just kept his mouth shut.

All of the plates were now clear, so Emily called the maid to come clear the table and bring dessert. Soon goblets of chocolate mousse were placed in front of all of them.

"Excuse me, Louisa," Christopher said quietly as the maid placed his cup down. "Please don't forget to take my daughter some chocolate mousse, but only about half this much."

"Of course sir, I'll do it right away." She quickly left the room.

"Mom, this mousse is delicious," Lorelai said with a slight moan.

"It really is Emily," Christopher chimed in. Richard nodded in agreement, and Emily smiled happily at the end of the table.

"Thank you. Luke, is there something wrong with your dessert?"

Christopher looked over to see Luke staring at his dessert with his spoon in his hand.

"No, nothing at all Emily. I'm just not much of a dessert fan," Luke told her.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, I'll eat it," Lorelai said eagerly. The remainder of the dessert was consumed in relative silence.

"Well gentlemen, shall we retire to the study for brandy and cigars?" Richard asked.

"Uh sure," Luke said hesitantly.

"I'll join you guys in just a moment, I'm going to go up and check on Gigi," Chris said. Richard nodded in understanding and Christopher headed up stairs.

******************************

Gigi was enjoying her mousse, and Dorothy had just met up with the Tin Man, so Christopher left her to the rest of her movie. Instead of going downstairs to join Luke and Richard for brandy, he went into Lorelai's old room, and out to her balcony. He just needed some fresh air and some time to think. He leaned against the house and pressed his palms into his eye sockets. He probably could have picked a better place, because memories were everywhere here, and merely closing his eyes brought them flooding back.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out there when a voice broke through his fog. "Thought I'd find you out here." His eyes snapped open.

"Isn't this fraternizing with the enemy?" he asked.

"Shut up Chris. You want a drink?" She held out a bottle of tequila.

"Do you remember what happened last time we had tequila out here?"

"Fine. I won't share," she said sarcastically taking a swig from the bottle. He held out his hand for the bottle and she gave it to him. He took a healthy drink. She slid in next to him and put her head on his shoulder, he slid his arm around her shoulder. "When did it get so hard?"

"What?" he asked.

"All of it. Life, love and otherwise."

"I don't remember it ever being easy." They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"Lorelai?" Emily called from the hallway.

"Damn it. I've gotta go."

"Lore, stay." She shook her head.

"I'll call you next week," she said and she kissed him on the cheek, and headed back into the bedroom. "You should probably come in too." He nodded but didn't move. She gave him a funny look over her shoulder.

"It'll look less suspicious if I don't walk out of the room with you."

******************************

An hour later The Wizard of Oz was over and Chris and Gigi were leaving to head back to Boston. When Christopher had rejoined the men Richard gave him a knowing look and Luke gave him a dark scowl, the brandy was consumed in an awkward conversation about golf. He was very glad when the maid came to tell him that Gigi was looking for him, so that he could finally be on his way home.

Gigi fell asleep before they reached the interstate, and he spent the rest of the drive in silence.

******************************

Christopher Hayden arrived home tired and confused. The night did not go the way he wanted, but he was oddly hopeful for the future.

******************************

******************************

It was 4:00 on Friday afternoon and Logan Huntzberger was trying to find his way out of the Seattle Tacoma International Airport. He had called ahead and hired a car, not wanting to try to navigate in a new city on a tight time frame. Eventually, after most of the passengers from his flight got their luggage and left, he found his driver. He climbed into the back seat and told the driver the name of the hotel he needed to get to.

"Are you in town for the speech, sir?" the driver asked.

"Sort of, I'm here to surprise my girl," he said, surprising even himself by referring to her as his girl.

"Very good, I'm sure she'll be very glad to see you."

"I hope so," he said hesitantly remember the last time he had shown up unannounced. Maybe this was a bad idea.

The drive from the airport to downtown was slow and arduous based on traffic and the weather. Even though it was summer, it was pouring down rain. The ride just gave Logan more time to think about how he might be screwing up. Finally he gave in and called for backup.

"Hel- (hic)-o," a drunken man answered the phone.

"Finn! How are you?" Logan asked.

"Hey Mate! I'm grand, found a beautiful redhead tonight."

"Good for you! Can you spare a minute from your redhead for me?"

"Anything for you Mate!" Finn exclaimed, and Logan heard him telling someone, who he assumed was the redhead of the night, to give him a minute. "So, what's going on? Are you in town?"

"No, I'm in Seattle."

"Why the heck are you in Seattle? It rains there!"

"Tell me about it. It's pouring right now. But I'm here because Rory's here," Logan explained.

"You and Reporter Girl put it back together already? Way to go," Finn congratulated his friend.

"Not exactly. I'm going to surprise her."

"Again? But I thought that didn't work out well last time," Finn asked in a confused voice.

"Ugh, I know. But we had a moment last Friday night, and this week we've had a couple of good emails, so I thought I'd try it again." Logan was seriously doubting his choice of actions right now, and the encouragement he was hoping for from Finn was not forthcoming. "Should I just forget it?"

"You flew all the way to Seattle, go see her, but what ever you do don't surprise her again." Logan ran his free hand through his hair, Finn was right, the surprise thing was exactly what caused the problem the last time.

"I hate to say this, but you're right Finn. I better try to get a hold of her."

"Good luck Mate!" Finn said distractedly.

"Enjoy your red head," Logan told him and then he hung up the phone.

"How close are we to the hotel?" Logan asked the driver.

"Probably about 15 minutes away still."

"Thanks." Logan grabbed his phone and sent a text message. _R – Dinner tonight? – L (this is the best I can do for notice)_ Then he sat back to wait for an answer. He really hoped she had her phone nearby so she could answer.

Less than five minutes later his phone buzzed. _L – You're in Seattle? This is not the kind of notice I meant. –R _He sighed deeply. "Damn!" he muttered to himself. _R – Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Forgive me just this once? – L _The driver looked at him in the rear view mirror like he was crazy. "Sorry man… I'm trying to work things out with the woman of my dreams and it's just not going the way I want it to," he explained.

"Good luck, sir. I know that goes. It took me quite a while to win over the missus."

Logan's phone buzzed again _Since you're here I guess it's okay. Meet me at my hotel at 7:00_. He let out a sigh of relief, she was willing to forgive him at least this one time.

"She giving you a chance?" the driver asked.

"You know, I think she might be," Logan said with a smile. He sent her one last text back to confirm. _I'll meet you after the speech._

******************************

He stood in the back of the room watching the speech. It was virtually the same speech he'd seen in Sacramento, the same crowd and the same press corp. His Ace was in virtually the same position she was last time; dark suit, bun, writing notes.

When the speech was over he again positioned himself near the door to wait for her, this time knowing she'd have a better reaction.

She came striding toward him, again talking to Peter. He waved at her and she smiled back at him.

"Mary?" a voice rang our across the room. Logan paid no attention until he saw Rory's head snap around to look for the voice. "MARY!" She stopped and turned to the right. Logan started walking towards her.  
"Tristan?" Rory said tentatively. Logan looked at the man she was looking at. He was about six feet tall and blond. He approached her and she ran into his open arms, he picked her up and spun her around.

"Hey Mare, what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I could say the same to you!" she told him.

"Hey Ace! DuGrey?" Logan said when he reached them.

"Logan, hi," Rory was surprised to see him.

"Huntzberger?" Tristan asked at the same time. The two men shook hands.

"Wait, how do you two know each other?" Rory asked.

"I could ask the same question," both Logan and Tristan said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. "Jinx!"

"Yeah, well I asked first," Rory told them impatiently.

"Ace, Tristan and I went to boarding school together as kids. Our parents were friends, but they wised up and separated us before high school," Logan explained.

"It's your turn Mary," Tristan said.

"Logan and I went to Yale together," Rory told Tristan.

"You here for Herr Huntzberger Logan?" Tristan asked. Logan just shook his head no. He couldn't believe all she told Tristan was that they went to Yale together.

"So how do you know Tristan Ace?" Logan asked.

"We went to Chilton together until his dad dragged him out to go to military school," she said quickly. "Tristan what are you doing here?" Logan got the feeling there was something she was leaving out. If she left of his relationship with her at Yale it was more than likely that she was leaving out her relationship at Chilton with Tristan. He inadvertently frowned.

"I live here."

"I'm going to need more than that," Rory told him. Logan just stood by and watched.

"I moved to Seattle after I graduated from Princeton. I work for an architecture firm down town," he explained.

"So why are you here at the speech?" Logan asked.

"My minor was in journalism, so I occasionally freelance for the local paper just to piss my old man off. I'm covering this for the local paper."

Logan laughed. "I left HPG and moved to San Francisco to start my own venture." Tristan gave him a high five.

"You guys and pissing off your parents," Rory said with a sigh.

"Not every one has a freakish bond with their parents," Logan told her with a pointed look. Tristan nodded in agreement.

"So Logan, if you're not here for HPG, why are you here?" Tristan asked.

Logan inclined his head toward Rory slightly. "I'm just here for dinner."

"Wow Mare, what do you have on Huntz that would make him fly all this way for dinner?" Tristan asked her.

Logan was pleased to see Rory turn a shade of pink at the implications. "History," she said simply giving Logan a quick glance. "Tristan, do you want to join us for dinner?" she asked.

Tristan looked at Logan and Logan forced his face into an expression of pleasant indifference. If she wanted dinner with Tristan so be it, it would be nice to catch up with an old friend. "Sure, if that's okay with you Huntz."

"Hey, the more the merrier," Logan said casually. "I've got a car outside, want to just ride with us Tristan?" He slung his arm around Rory's shoulder in a casual yet proprietary way.

"I'll meet you guys in the lobby, I just want to drop my notes off in my room first," Rory told them both, shrugging herself out from under Logan's arm.

They both nodded and she dashed off towards the elevator.

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Logan stood in the lobby with Tristan waiting for Rory. It was slightly awkward, even though they'd been friends years ago they hadn't spoken in about 7 years. When Tristan's dad sent him off to military school he lost contact with everyone.

"So how do you really know Rory?" Logan finally asked breaking the silence.

"Like she said, we went to Chilton together," Tristan answered.

"And?"

"I had a massive crush on her and she would hardly give me the time of day. We finally started to get along and my dad yanked me out of school so I never got to see where it could go. How about you, how do you know Rory?"

"We were at Yale together," Logan answered just as Tristan had.

"And?"

"We dated." He really wasn't sure he wanted to get into this. He wasn't really a feelings sort of guy.

"Wow Rory Gilmore, one of the many, I can't imagine it." Logan shook his head. He wasn't really sure why he did it. It would have been easier to let Tristan think that Rory was just another notch on his bedpost, but he couldn't defile the memory of them like that. "Wait a minute, you're telling me that someone actually got Logan Huntzberger to settle down?" shock filled Tristan's voice.

"Almost three years," Logan said quietly.

"Holy shit Huntz. I can't believe it."

Rory entered the lobby, and Logan noticed that she'd let down her hair and traded her classic black pumps for some more funky shoes. "You can't believe what Tristan?" she asked when she reached them.

Logan shook his head quickly. "That he finally got out from under Mitchum's thumb," Tristan said. Logan was grateful that Tristan could think quickly on his feet.

"I know!" Rory started, "I'm really proud of him." She gave Logan a smile and he thought his heart might explode. She was proud of him. He knew that of course, she'd told him so before, but it had been such a long time, he really needed to hear it again. "So where shall we go for dinner? I'm starving."

Logan laughed. "A Gilmore girl hungry? Never!" He gave her a look of fake shock and she smacked his arm. "Tristan why don't you pick, you know the area better than we do."

"No problem, once we get in the car I'll just tell the driver where to go," he obliged.

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They ended up in a local eatery with an eclectic menu. It seemed to Logan that Tristan knew Rory better than he thought. They ordered a round of drinks and appetizers. They discussed the speech for a while and the political climate change that seemed to be coming. Conversation was flowing but formal. The waitress returned to deliver a second round of drinks and take their dinner orders. Logan ordered something he knew Rory would like so they could share.

When dinner arrived Logan watched as Rory eyed all three of the plates on the table.

"Wow, you guys both chose so well. Logan, your pasta looks delicious, and Tristan your steak looks like it's done just right," she said wistfully.

"I'll trade you some of my pasta for some of your chicken Ace," Logan said. She smiled at him gratefully.

"You can have some of my steak too," Tristan added. Rory grinned in delight.  
"I think all restaurants should just be family style," she told them both. "It's just not fair to make a person choose only one thing." Logan smiled having heard her thoughts on this before, and Tristan laughed.

"I think you might be on to something Mary."

"Why do you call her Mary?" Logan asked. Rory flushed tomato red sitting next to him.

"Go ahead and tell the damn story," she said. Logan looked at Tristan expectantly.

Tristan smiled fondly at the memories. "There's no great story. When she first started at Chilton she was just so pure and innocent looking. I was a jerk and the Virgin Mary was the first thing I thought of."

Logan practically choked on his water. "The Virgin Mary!" He couldn't help himself, he let out a roaring laugh. He knew exactly how innocent his Ace wasn't.

"You know," Rory said quietly, "that name might not be appropriate anymore. It has been years since we went to Chilton together." She gave both men dirty looks. Logan stifled his laugh and Tristan tried to put on a straight face.

Conversation halted momentarily, then moved on in a stilted three-cornered manner. Rory and Logan talking about things Tristan knew nothing about, Tristan and Rory talking about things Logan knew nothing about and Logan and Tristan talking about things Rory knew nothing about.

"Does your family still have that old suit of armor?" Tristan asked at one point. Logan nodded.

"Henry?" Rory asked.

"You named it?" Tristan asked.

"Nah, Ace named it."

"Well he graced our foyer Logan. He deserved a name!" Rory told him indignantly. She stopped suddenly, and Logan figured she realized she'd told Tristan more about them than she wanted to.

"Why do you ask?" Logan said, trying to cover Rory's discomfort.

"I was just wondering if you remember the time we tried to wear that suit of armor as a Halloween costume?" Tristan asked.

Rory burst out laughing. "You guys tried to wear Henry?"

"Give us a break. Tristan was 9 and I was 11. We thought it would be a brilliant costume."

"Remember how mad Shira was when we crashed him down the stairs." Tristan asked.

Logan chuckled and then began to explain. "Tristan tried him on first, and as doing pretty well walking around upstairs,-"

"And Logan thought he could do it better, and decided he would walk down the stairs in the suit of armor and try to scare Honor," Tristan continued.

"I fell going down the stairs and scuffed up the banister. My mother came running in furious. I was grounded for a month," Logan finished.

All three of them laughed. Logan looked down at his watch and realized the time.

"We should probably get going, I've got a plane to catch in a few hours, you know those darn TSA requirements," Logan said, suddenly bringing everything to a crashing halt.

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Logan and Tristan briefly squabbled over the tab, but in the end Tristan one based on the fact that it was his town and his choice, and assuring Logan if he was ever in San Francisco he could return the favor. The driver took Rory and Tristan back to the hotel, and Logan waited with them while Tristan grabbed a cab to go home. He watched awkwardly as Rory and Tristan exchanged contact information and hugged each other goodbye. He and Tristan also shook hands and traded information as well. They were all silent again until Tristan's cab drove away.

"Well Ace, I guess I should get back to the airport. I'm sorry if my showing up tonight ruined your evening," he said more sharply than he intended. Things had been awkward with them all night. She didn't seem to want Tristan to know their history, just as she didn't want him to know her relationship with Tristan.

"Logan," she started, "I'm glad you came. I wasn't expecting Tristan. I'm sorry if it was awkward. Honestly I hadn't seen him since Chilton," she explained.

"I know. I don't care about that, it was really good to see him. It's just not what I planned for the evening." Logan started back towards the car to head to the airport.

"Logan wait!" She came towards him. He turned and she hugged him, and stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Even if it wasn't what you planned, I had a good time. It was good to see you. I'll email you next week."

He nodded and got in the car. He was no closer to winning her back than when he left San Francisco hours before. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the seat as the driver took him back to the airport.

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Logan Huntzberger arrived home tired and confused. The night did not go the way he wanted, but he was oddly hopeful for the future.

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**Author's Note: I don't own Gilmore Girls. All credit goes to the rightful creators. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I'd love any feedback you've got. **


	7. Chapter 7 Real life and Timelines

Saturday morning was hell. Logan Huntzberger was beyond hung over. It had been a week since he'd talked to Rory. She'd told him she'd email him and he hadn't heard from her. He read her blog, so he knew she was alive. He'd started to email her a dozen times, but each time he stopped himself. She told him _she'd_ email him. The ball was in her court, and damn it, he had his pride.

He spent his days at work anxiously awaiting some communication from her. A text, an email, a phone call, hell he'd even appreciate a smoke signal. By Friday he was very irritable and his coworkers took it upon themselves to make sure he got out for some fun. They had taken him to a local Mexican restaurant that specialized in gigantic margaritas and proceeded to buy him margaritas and shots of tequila all night long.

He gingerly sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, hoping against hope that he was alone. Luck was on his side for once, and there was no evidence that anyone else had slept over. He stumbled out of bed and towards the shower. It was times like these when he really missed Rory. She would always do thoughtful little things for him when the event they were at got out of hand. She'd leave aspirin and water on the bedside table, make sure the blinds were tightly shut and turn the ringer off on his mobile so he could sleep it off.

Logan fell asleep in the shower and woke up when the water turned ice cold. He wrapped a towel around his waist and rummaged around the bathroom for a bottle of aspirin. On his way back to the bedroom to get dressed he noticed the time. It was almost noon. He had no clue what to do with his day. Last weekend he worked to make up for taking time off to go see Rory in Seattle. He tried to figure out what he should do. He could finish his book, but now that he knew Rory was reading it, and not talking to him, it seemed to hold too many negative feelings. He wanted to kick himself for going to Seattle last week, but seeing Tristan had made it worthwhile, even if it hurt his chances with Rory. Sometimes friends are the best medicine.

He went into the living room, poured himself a scotch, and flopped down on the couch. This was one of those days that called for a little 'hair of the dog.' As he took his first sip, his mobile rang.

"Huntzberger," he answered.

"Hey Asshole," a voice filled his ear.

"Stephanie? What's going on?" She sounded really mad and Logan was concerned.

"Are you back to your old ways already?" she asked.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" he was thoroughly confused.

"We've been gone for two weeks now and haven't heard a single word from you. Are you shutting us out again?"

"I'm not shutting anyone out, at least not intentionally. I talked to Finn last week. Didn't he mention that I called?"

"You expect a drunk to pass on your messages?" she asked.

Logan laughed, she was right, he should never have expected Finn to mention that he called. "You're right I'm sorry. I've just been wrapped up in things."

"Rory things?" she asked in a tormenting sort of manner.

"Kind of. Hey have you heard from her lately?" Logan was such an idiot, why hadn't he thought to ask Stephanie before now.

"Not really. Just uh, a brief note earlier this week saying hey. Why?"

"I saw her last Friday, she said she'd email me, and she hasn't."

Stephanie roared with laughter, "Logan, you've turned into such a girl! I never thought I'd see the day!"

"Oh shut up and help me figure out what to do," he snarled.

"Well what happened last Friday?" she asked innocently. Too innocently he thought, he was pretty sure Rory had told her all about it. Regardless, he took the offer and spent the next 10 minutes filling Stephanie in on his misguided trip to Seattle, seeing DuGrey and coming home with things exactly as they were before. "You're not going to like what I have to say," Stephanie started, waiting for a sign from him to continue.

"Probably not, but why don't you tell me anyhow."

"Let it be."

"Thank you John Lennon, could you be a little more specific?" he asked, irritation filling his voice.

"She said she would email you, right?" Steph reiterated just to be sure.

"Mmm-hmmm," he mumbled trying not to say something mean to his friend.

"Just let her. Wait for her," she said.

"But, what if-" Logan started.

Stephanie cut him off, "Logan. She loves you. Just give her time to figure out how to make it work."

"But I can help her. I love her too!"

"There are some things that a person needs to work out alone," she said knowingly.

"You're right. So how are things going with Colin?" he asked. He was just being a jerk to her now and he knew it.

"Hello salt, meet wound," she said bitterly. "You're a real jerk sometimes Huntz."

"Yeah, I know," he confirmed.

"Go for a run, read a book, go the movies, just do something to get your mind off of it," Steph told him.

"Does that work for you?" he asked in return.

"Sometimes."

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Logan asked, trying to redirect attention from his own mess of a life, even if only for a few moments.

"I've tried. But it normally only happens when I'm drunk, and he's drunk, which means that come the next morning, we're both back to being awkward and he thinks it's just drunk speak."

"I know I'm not one to advocate for sobriety, but why don't you just make a point to stay sober and tell him before he gets to drunk."

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" she asked nervously.

"What if he does? Look, the one thing I've learned through this whole mess is that it's worth taking the chance. As much as it hurt that Rory said no, if I'd never taken the chance with her I would have missed out on so much," Logan admitted quietly.

"I'll try," Stephanie finally conceded, "but only if you agree to try and wait for Rory."

"Deal!" he said eagerly. He knew exactly how Colin felt about Stephanie, and had been sworn to secrecy from both sides, he would love it if all of this was finally out in the open. Besides, he could wait a few more days to hear from Rory before he went absolutely crazy.

He got off the phone with Stephanie and headed into his office, she was right, he needed to do something, so he decided that he would book a tee time and go play some golf. He'd enjoy the sun and the girls driving the drink cart at the same time. While he was looking for available courses to play he decided to check his email, just in case.

_To: Logan Huntzberger  
From: Rory Gilmore  
Re: Delay  
Hey Logan,  
Sorry for the delay, I know I said I'd email you last week, but the week kind of got away from me. I'm sure you know how that goes. Anyhow, got an invite to my grandparent's wedding anniversary, (apparently the counting starts over at vow renewals and now they want to celebrate every year). Do you think you'll be in attendance? I know that means seeing your family and all, but I still thought I'd check.  
I hope you're doing well.  
-Rory_

He stood up from his desk and stared at the screen again. Was she asking because she wanted him there? Or was it because if he was going to be there she wouldn't be there? Her email wasn't cryptic, but it wasn't really chatty either. She asked him one specific question, which would lead him to believe she was hoping he wouldn't be there. But then she also alluded to the fact that he probably wouldn't attend because of his family, which kind of told him that she hoped he'd come in spite of that. Still, she didn't extend any pleasantries nor did she explain why she hadn't emailed. The week kind of got away from her? Could she _be _any more vague? He could hear Chandler Bing in his thoughts and chuckled at himself. He really was losing it.

He went into the living room to find the stack of mail that had been accruing for the last week or so. Sure enough there was a large ivory envelope made of expensive paper that could only be an invitation. He flipped it over to see the elder Gilmore's name and address embossed on the flap. He quickly tore open the envelope.

_Lorelai Gilmore cordially invites you to:_

_Emily and Richard Gilmore's 3rd Vow Renewal Anniversary_

He continued to scan down the page, noting that it was at the same location as their vow renewal, and it was six weeks from now. He chuckled aloud at the thought of poor Lorelai getting roped into planning the party. He was pretty sure that Emily was planning it and just putting Lorelai's name on it, heaven forbid ignore the rules of society and throw her own party.

Logan thought for a moment about what it would mean to go. Sure he'd have to deal with his parents, he could imagine Mitchum's glares of disappointment already. But, he would get to see Colin, Finn, Stephanie and Honor. Then an image flashed in his head, Ace in her tuxedo, drinking champagne straight from the bottle. That sealed it.

He returned to his office, booked a round of golf for the afternoon and began drafting his reply to Rory. He vacillated back and forth for a while about whether he should send her a chatty email, or simply answer her question, and finally decided to go play his round of golf and come back to it later.

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Logan Huntzberger had six weeks, in which he had to get his shit together, and try to reestablish a good relationship with Rory.

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Christopher Hayden's Saturday morning started earlier than he would have liked. At 6:30 he was awakened from a _very good dream_ by screams coming from Gigi's room. He flung himself out of bed, pulled on his robe, and raced towards his daughter's room. "Gigi, are you okay?" he asked as he entered the room and walked towards her bed. Her eyes were closed and tears were streaming down her face. She was still sleeping. He gently reached out and touched her arm. "Gigi, wake up." Her eyelids fluttered and soon she was staring at him.

"Daddy?" she asked as if she was unable to believe her own eyes.

"I'm right here Gigi it's okay. It was just a bad dream," he reassured her. She nodded her head. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Monsters were chasing us! And…we had to hide in a tree house, and… they were trying to cut down the tree we were in. It was really scary," she explained.

"That does sound terrible G. But you know that even if the monsters cut down our tree, I'd still beat them up before they could hurt you right?"

"I know _you_ would Daddy. But you weren't there. It was just me and Aunt Lorelai," she informed him.

"Well I know for a fact Aunt Lorelai would do the same thing. I bet she could scare them off with just one of her dirty looks. She's talented like that," he tried again to comfort her.

Gigi hiccupped, and looked up at Christopher., "You're probably right Daddy."

"I know I am," he smiled at her. "So, do you want to try to go back to sleep, or do you want to get up and have breakfast and watch cartoons?"

"Cartoons!!" she exclaimed excitedly, then her voice lowered, "Will you make chocolate chip pancakes?" she asked, trying to pout a little hoping it would help.

"Chocolate chip pancakes, huh?" he ruffed her hair. "Alright. I suppose I can manage that, but only if it makes you feel better."

She nodded eagerly, then sprang out of bed, nightmare forgotten, heading to the living room to find some Saturday morning cartoons. Christopher smiled and headed into the kitchen to begin making chocolate chip pancakes.

He stood in front of the pantry trying to determine what all he needed. He grabbed the bag of pancake mix, then rooted around for a bag of chocolate chips. He found a partially empty package of chips preserved in a Ziploc™ bag. He thought for a moment about how long the chips may have been there, and wondered if they ever went bad. He couldn't remember the last time there had been chocolate chip cookies in the house. Molly usually made sugar cookies. As he continued to gather ingredients, a bowl, a mixing spoon, some non-stick spray and a frying pan, he wondered how Gigi even learned about chocolate chip pancakes. He certainly never made them. In fact, since he hated to disappoint his daughter, he silently hoped that the mere addition of the chips to the pancake batter was a recipe for success. He measured the powdered mix into the bowl and added water, stirring it until the dry lumps were gone, then poured in a handful of the chips.

He placed a pan on the stove, turned on the burner beneath it and sprayed it with the non-stick stuff. As he waited for it to heat up, it dawned on him: Lorelai. Of course, she would be the one to teach Gigi about the wonderment that was dessert-like breakfast foods. He smiled at the thought, and his mind drifted back to the _very good dream_ his daughter had interrupted.

_He entered his bedroom, at least in the dream it was his bedroom, to find Lorelai in a delightful state of undress on his bed, a gigantic mahogany four poster bed with fluffy cloud like white bedding. "Christopher, come over here." She beckoned him with a smile and an impatient wave of her hand. The slim strap of her white satin nighty slid down her shoulder. He approached the bed, and she reached out, grabbing his tie, and pulling him to her. She stretched up to kiss him… _

A sizzle from the pan indicating that it was hot enough to make pancakes brought him back to the present, oddly at the same point that Gigi's screams woke him. He poured some batter into the pan and went to retrieve a plate to put the finished product on.

As he waited for the pancake to be ready for flipping he resumed his thoughts of Lorelai, not the dream he had, but her actions from the last week or so. He thought Friday night dinner had gone relatively well, but she had said she'd call, and she didn't. Not a brief call to say hey, a text message, a fax, or even an email. The lack of communication from her was reminiscent of, well, him. She was always good at holding up her end of a deal. If she said she would do something, she usually would. He was beginning to worry about her.

"Daddy? Why is there smoke?" Gigi asked as she entered the kitchen.

He blinked and looked down at the pan in front of him. He got so lost in thought that he forgot to flip the pancake. "Don't you want Cajun pancakes sweetie?" he teased her.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell. "I've never had Cajun pancakes…" she trailed off.

"I'm just kidding G. I just forgot to flip the pancake and it burned on one side. Don't worry, there's plenty of batter to make more. How about you get the milk out of the fridge?" He watched as she went to get the milk from the refrigerator.

"Are the pancakes almost ready?" she asked as she set the milk on the table.

"Yep. Hand me that plate right there and I'll get you some." He chose to make dollar size pancakes in his second attempt, they would take less time to cook, and hopefully not allow him to get so distracted. She handed him a plate, and he flipped three small pancakes on to it and handed it back to her.

"Can I have some milk too?" she asked. He was grateful that she asked, knowing just two weeks ago she'd tried to pour it for herself and spilled the entire carton all over the table.

"Just let me put some more batter in the pan and I'll come pour you a glass of milk." She nodded and quietly waited for him to start pancakes for himself. He walked over to the table and poured her a small glass of milk, and a slightly larger glass for himself. "So, how are the pancakes?" he asked eagerly.

She smiled tentatively, "Not as good as the ones at Aunt Lorelai's, but they're still pretty good." He smiled at her blunt honesty.

"Well, knowing your Aunt Lorelai's affinity for sweet breakfast treats, I'll bet that no better chocolate chip pancakes exist anywhere. That and she probably gets them at Luke's." The last part he mumbled under his breath in annoyance.

"Daddy? What's aff-inty?" she asked.

Gigi was so smart that sometimes he forgot she was only 5. "Affinity," he corrected. "It just means that she really likes them."

"I have an af-fin-ity for them too," she pronounced carefully.

He smiled proudly at her. It was times like this that he was reminded that some of Rory's smarts came from his gene pool too. He piled a stack of pancakes on his own plate and rejoined her at the table. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Abby's birthday party is tomorrow, can we go shopping for a gift?"

"Of course we can," he started, but was interrupted by the ring of the telephone. It was barely after 7:00 am, who was calling him?

Gigi ran to answer the phone. She was at the age that she was just starting to like the phone, and hoped the calls were all for her. "Hello?" she answered loudly. She paused for a moment, then looked back at the table. "Daddy, it's Aunt Lorelai, for you. It sounds like she had a bad dream."

Christopher sprinted to the phone, grabbing it from his daughter. "Lore, what's wrong?" he started without even a hello.

"What does she mean it sounds like I had a bad dream?" Lorelai asked him. She was trying to sound normal, but Christopher had known her for too long, and could tell that she had been crying.

"Gigi had a nightmare, and woke up crying. You sound pretty much like she did when she woke up this morning," he explained quickly. "So what's going on?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh Chris…" her voice trailed off as she began to cry in earnest, no longer trying to hide her emotions.

"Are you okay? Is it Rory? Is it your parents?" he asked. He crossed his fingers hoping that everyone was okay.

"Rory's fine, my parents are fine. In fact, you'll probably be getting an invitation to their anniversary party if you haven't all ready received it," she said, again deflecting from the issue.

"Lore-" he started.

"It's Luke," she said.

"Is he ill? Is he injured? Did he hurt you?" he asked, wracking his brain trying to figure out exactly what she meant by that simple two-word phrase. He heard background noise, and realized that she was likely on her cell phone. "Where are you?"

"The hospital," she said, answering only his latter question.

"Lorelai, what happened?" he raised his voice. He wasn't mad, but he was starting to freak out and could no longer completely control his reactions.

"We were arguing in the car, and he didn't see a car running a stop sign. It plowed right into the drivers side of the car," she explained between sobs.

"How badly is he hurt? Are you hurt?" Chris asked.

"I'm fine. I just bruised my shoulder where it hit the door. Luke is…" she paused, "I don't know how he is."

"Do you want me to come down there?" he asked, as he stood up from the table and headed towards his bedroom to dress.

"Just a sec," Lorelai told him. He could hear the hospital staff in the background, confirming who she was, and sharing a diagnosis. He heard broken arm, and head trama, but not the rest of it. "Chris?"

"Yeah?" he asked in response.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? I only heard part of the diagnosis, is Luke going to be okay?"

"He's in a coma due to the head trauma, but the doctors don't think it will last for very long," she explained, then quickly switched topics. "I'm sorry that I called you. I just freaked out and didn't know who else to call. You shouldn't have to deal with this."

"Lore," he started, "don't even worry about it. If I can do anything to help, either of you, I'm happy to do it." The words sounded false coming out of his mouth, but when he thought about it, he meant every one of them. While he wasn't Luke's biggest fan, he loved Lorelai, and he wanted her to be happy, he would do everything in his power to help her.

"Thanks Christopher. I've got to call April and Anna, I'll call you and update you later." She hung up without waiting for him to say goodbye.

He headed back to the hallway to return the cordless phone to its cradle, and noticed next to it a stack of mail. Right on the top was an invitation. He used a letter opener to slit the top of the envelope and pulled out the contents. The invitation to Richard and Emily's Third Annual Vow Renewal. He knew come hell or high water, Lorelai would be at that event, and he would not allow for a repeat of the last time.

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Christopher Hayden had six weeks, to prove to Lorelai that if nothing else he could be a good friend, and hopefully more.

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**Author's Note:**

**Alas, I still don't own Gilmore Girls. I'm so sorry for the delay in updating, life has gotten in the way as usual. In addition to a bad case of writers block, I'm back in school and working at the same time, so I'm going to try to update frequently but I'm not promising anything. Feel free to hound me with emails though :) maybe that will push me along. **

**So in the next chapter I think we're going to see Logan's reply to Rory, and his attempts to establish a friendly relationship with her, and probably learn what Lorelai and Luke were fighting about, and see Christopher trying to just be a friend to her. **


	8. Chapter 8 Shoulders

**AN: Edited to show Christopher's section first per request. **

Christopher Hayden had tried to block Lorelai's early morning phone call from his mind. It took all the effort he had to go on with his Saturday, without calling her or trying to track her down. She said she'd call if she needed anything, and he just needed to wait.

He took Gigi shopping for a birthday gift, and they went out to lunch, and a matinee of the new Pixar™ film. Although at this point he couldn't even tell you the name of the film, much less what it was about.

When they returned to the house around 4:00, he began to worry in earnest. He broke down and dialed her mobile number. It went straight to voicemail. He left a message and began to wait again. Around 5:00, he hadn't gotten a response, so he tried her home number. No answer. In a last ditch effort he dialed the number to the Inn.

"Szank you for calling zee Dragonfly Inn, zis ez Michel speaking." The Frenchman answered the phone.

"May I speak to Lorelai please?" he asked nervously, hoping she was in.

"I'm sorree, Lorelai ez not in today. May I ask who's calling?"

"This is, uh, Christopher, Rory's dad."

"I shall tell her zat you called," Michel told him.

"No, wait…" he paused hoping for a flash of brilliance, "is… Sookie in?" he asked quickly.

"One moment." He heard Michel set the phone down on the desk, not bothering to mute it. _Sookie, zee phone ez for you, it ez Rory's father. _The annoyance was clear in the Frenchman's tone. He heard a slight rustling, and then she picked up the phone.

"Christopher? What's wrong? Is Rory okay?" she asked clearly worried.

"Rory's fine, but I'm looking for Lorelai. Do you know where she is?" he asked desperately.

"She's…" Sookie trailed off, obviously not wanting to give her best friend's ex any information.

"She called me from the hospital this morning Sookie, I just want to make sure she's okay, I'm worried about her."

He could hear Sookie sigh, "She's still at the hospital."

"Which one?"

"Hartford Memorial."

"Thanks," he said, preparing to hang up the phone.

"Chris," Sookie started.

"Yeah?"

"If you're going to hurt her, or cause trouble, don't go. She's got enough on her plate right now, without having to deal with you too."

Ouch, the truth hurt. "I'm just going to support her. I know Rory's out of town, and she'd never call Richard and Emily about this. I promise Sookie, I just want to help." He tried to reassure her.

"Okay," she said warily.

"Sookie?" he asked, wondering if she was still there?

"Yeah?"

"She's lucky to have a friend like you." Before the chef could respond, he hung up the phone. Now he knew where to find her.

He immediately called his mother.

"Hayden residence," the maid answered. Unlike the Gilmores, the Haydens could keep a maid, and Marsha had been there for at least the last 10 years.

"Marsha, it's Christopher. Is my mother about?" he asked.

"Just one moment Mr. Hayden." Marsha had better phone etiquette than Michel, and put him on hold while she went to track down his mother.

"Christopher, is everything alright?" Francine Hayden asked when she picked up the phone only a few moments later.

"Hello to you too Mother," he teased. "Actually I was wondering if Gigi could spend the night with you?"

"Of course, I'd much rather spend the evening with my granddaughter than go to yet another boring dinner." Now that his father was gone, his mother still kept up appearances, but he knew how much the society scene could bother her. "What's going on?" she asked again.

"It's Lorelai," he started. He heard her gasp on the other end of the phone. "Mother, it's not what you think, don't you dare call Richard and Emily. She was in a small accident this morning, and she's not hurt, but the person driving the car was, she's still at the hospital, and I just want to go check on her and see if I can do anything to help."

"That's very thoughtful of you. What time shall I expect Georgia?" she asked.

He glanced down at his watch, it was 5:30 now. Hartford was an hour away in good traffic, and it was Saturday night and he still had to pack a bag for Gigi. "Around 7:30. I'll drive through somewhere and get her some food on the way, so you don't have to worry about that."

"It's not any trouble Christopher. I know you're anxious to get to Lorelai, and every minute counts," his mother assured him.

"No, it's not that, I'm sure Gigi will be hungry soon," he explained.

"Alright then, I'll see you both around 7:30," Francine said.

"Thank you Mother."

"Of course darling."

He hung up the phone and shouted for Gigi. "G, pack your overnight bag, you're going to Grandma's house."

"But Daddy, what about Abby's birthday party?" she whined from the other room.

"I promise you'll be home in time for Abby's party tomorrow. Don't you want to see your Grandmother?" he asked.

"I guess. But I really don't want to miss the party. There's going to be pony rides."

"I'll tell you what, G. If you miss the pony rides tomorrow, I'll take you to a farm and let you ride a pony for as long as you want," he told her.

"Okay!" she said eagerly, rushing towards her room to pack her bag.

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An hour and 45 minutes, and one stop at Burger King™ later, Christopher pulled up to his parents' house. In his wild disobedient phase, he hated the place. As a child he saw it as a prison, and in the years he feuded with his father you couldn't pay him to set foot in the door, but now, as he settled and with his father gone, the house lost its power. It was still big, and imposing, but now it felt almost like home. Five years ago he'd be hard pressed to find any even decent memory of the house, but now making new memories with his mom and Gigi, old happy memories were occasionally triggered.

He opened the door without even bothering to knock or ring the bell. "Mother, we're here."

Marsha came running to greet them, not wanting to be considered lax in her duties. "Good evening Mr. Hayden, Miss Georgia."

"Hello Marsha," Christopher said in return, Gigi waved shyly.

"Georgia!" Francine called as she came in from the living room.

"Hi Grandma," Gigi said quietly.

"Hi Mom," Christopher said, as he bussed a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you for doing this."

"I'm happy to help."

"Gigi, I'm off now, but I'll pick you up in the morning okay?" He scooped his daughter into a hug.

"Okay Daddy. I love you," she said into his neck.

"I love you too. Have fun tonight, and be good for Grandma." She nodded. With that, Christopher rushed back to the car and headed to the hospital.

*******************************

He parked his car in visitor parking and took a deep breath. The last time he'd been in this hospital was when Richard had his heart attack. He was such an ass then. Lorelai needed him, and he was too busy being hurt and angry to do the right thing. He remembered being so upset when he finally arrived and Luke was there. At that time he wished that he could put Luke in the hospital bed instead of Richard. But he knew better now, he'd never wish for anything that could hurt Lorelai. He slammed the door to the car and strode confidently into the hospital.

"Yes, I'm looking for Luke Danes," he told the woman at the front counter.

"Family?" she asked, as she typed the name into the computer.

"Yes," he answered confidently. He was Lorelai's family, and she was Luke's family.

"Sixth floor, room 624." She gestured toward the elevator bank.

He looked down at his watch, it was well after 8:00 now, and he still hadn't heard from Lorelai. It had been more than 12 hours since her panicked call. The elevator stopped, and he stepped off following the signs to rooms in the 620's. He saw Lorelai sitting in the hall as he approached. She was sitting on the bench in front of the door, picking at the rim of her paper coffee cup, staring into it as though it held the answers to the world's problems.

"Hey," he said as he approached.

"Christopher! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I tried to call, but it went straight to voicemail. I was worried."

"My phone died," she said simply as she stood up. He looked at her, her right arm was in a sling and she had some small cuts across the side of her face.

"I thought you said you were okay!" he exclaimed.

"I am. The cuts will heal, and my arm is just sore, the sling is only temporary."

"How's Luke?" he asked. "Why aren't you in there with him?"

"Oh Christopher," she flung herself into his arms. "It's all my fault, he wouldn't want me in there."

"I seriously doubt that," he tried to reassure her brushing her hair out of her face and rubbing her back lightly.

"I caused the accident," she said quietly.

"You made someone else run a stop sign?" he asked remembering what she'd told him that morning.

"Well, no. But I was fighting with Luke and made it so he wasn't paying attention."

"Even if you weren't fighting, Luke may not have noticed the guy."

"This is all my fault."

"Lorelai," he said firmly as he shook her gently, "This is not your fault. What were you fighting about?"

She began to cry. "April is coming for a few weeks this summer, and he's planning to take her on a trip. I suggested that maybe we could all go away for a few days. I didn't want to go on the whole trip, I just thought it would be nice to get to know her a little," she paused sobbing. "He got annoyed, claiming that I wanted to take over his time with his daughter. I tried to explain that I only wanted to go for a bit, but he was convinced that she would like me better, and he didn't want to cause a problem with Anna." Her voice rose, "It's been two years now! She loves him! She knows him now! How are we ever going to work if he won't let me get to know his daughter?"

"Just because he wants to keep his daughter to himself doesn't mean he doesn't love you, and want to make things work with you," Christopher tried to soothe her.

"I told him that you had no problems with me and Gigi, and I that I didn't understand his hesitation," Lorelai continued.

Instantly Christopher stiffened. He did not want to be the any part of their fight, especially in this case, when Lorelai was in the wrong, at least about his feelings. "I did have problems with it, but we have a different history, and a shared daughter, so I dealt with it more quickly. It was hard for me when I left Lore; Gigi wanted you all the time, it was bad enough to have her crying for Sherri in Paris, but then for you too, I began to wonder if I'd ever be good enough. I know what it's like to lose a daughter to the wonderfulness that is you. After Aunt Lorelai, Dad is never cool enough. Hell, both of my daughters like you better than me most of the time, I can sort of see why he wants to protect his relationship."

"But…" Lorelai started. "Christopher, your daughters love you. Both of them. A lot. I would never want to replace you, just like I'd never want to replace Luke." Tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"I know that Lore, and deep down Luke knows it too. You can't help who you are, and I would never want you to change. I'm sure Luke feels the same way. But sometimes you can't help the way you feel. Luke needs to let you get to know April, but HE needs to be the one to take the steps to do it."

"Thanks Chris," she said, stepping back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "For what it's worth, you're a great dad to Gigi." He appreciated her honesty. She acknowledged his failings with Rory, without throwing them in his face, and still managed to reassure him.

"Thanks Lore. Is anyone else coming? Did you call Luke's family?" he asked. "Did you call Rory? How can I help?"

"April is flying in from New Mexico her flight is due in at 11:00. Luke's sister's mobile is out of range, but I left a message, and I tried to reach Jess, Luke's nephew, but had to just leave a message."

"How is April getting here from the airport?"

"I, ugh, don't know," Lorelai mumbled. "I hoped Luke would have woken up by then, and I could just go pick her up, but now I don't know. I don't want to leave, but I can't send someone she doesn't know, that would be weird."

"She doesn't even really know you though. Maybe we could just send a car, then it's not a random stranger, but a professional," he suggested trying to be helpful.

"I suppose that could work. I'll call her and leave her the name of the car company and driver as soon as you set it up. Oh wait, my phone is dead. Crap." She smacked her forehead animatedly.

"Here, take my phone battery. The only person that would need me on a Saturday night is my mother, and she knows where I am," he said, powering off his phone.

"Wait. Rory should know, but I can't call her. I can't tell her I screwed up again." Lorelai's eyes welled up with tears again.

"Lore, you didn't do anything wrong. Arguments happen - to all of us. There's no way Rory will blame you. However, I will call her for you," he added quickly when the tears began to fall.

"Thank you," she whispered as he dialed.

"'lo," Rory answered in a gravelly voice.

"Ror? Did I wake you? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Dad?" she croaked. "I'm okay, I've just got a bad cold. What's going on? Why are you calling me on a Saturday night?" He could hear the panic rising in her voice.

"Rory, I need you stay calm for a minute. Can you do that?" he asked.

"I'll try."

"Your mom and Luke were in a car accident this morning," he started. She started to interrupt and he cut her off, "Your mom is fine, a few bruises and scratches, but Luke is in a coma. I just thought you should know."

"Why didn't Mom call me? How come I'm just finding out about this now if it happened this morning?" she asked frantically.

"Your mom's pretty shaken up, I insisted that you be notified, I know how you feel about Luke. I'm sure he'll be fine, but still." It hurt to admit how much his daughter loved Luke. Luke was a father figure to her growing up, while Christopher was out trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. As much as he despised the man, he owed him a debt of gratitude for taking such good care of Rory.

"I'll be on the next plane to Hartford," Rory said sharply. "Thanks for calling Dad. I'll text you when I know my flight info."

"Your mom's mobile is dead, so I'm giving her my battery, text her instead. I love you kid."

"I love you too, Dad. See you soon I guess." She hung up and Christopher turned off his phone and handed the battery to Lorelai.

"She's pretty upset with me isn't she?" Lorelai asked as she put the battery into her phone and turned it on.

"She's just worried. She'll be fine by the time she gets here. You check your messages and make calls, I'll go set up a car for Luke's daughter. April right?" She nodded, and he headed off to the nurses station.

******************************

Three hours later April arrived, she briefly asked Lorelai how her father was, then took up a spot next to his bed, waiting for him to wake up. Lorelai still refused to enter the hospital room, and remained resolutely planted on the bench outside the door. Christopher did his best to make her comfortable, brought her coffee, and offered food, but it seemed to make no difference.

Rory showed up around 2:00 am. "Mom! Dad!" she called, and began running towards them when she finally found them.

Christopher stood up to greet his daughter, but she ran straight to her mother's side. "Mom, what happened? Luke's going to be okay, right? Is April here?"

Rory's presence seemed to snap Lorelai out of her funk. "Rory?" She stood up to hug her daughter, "I'm so glad to see you." She then began filling in all of the details for Rory.

"Well, I guess I'm going to go," Christopher said awkwardly. He felt very much like an outsider looking in. This caused Rory to break her hug from Lorelai and turn to hug her dad.

"Thanks for calling me Dad. I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how things are going." He nodded, then turned toward the door.

"Christopher, wait," Lorelai said. She walked over to him and hugged him. "Thank you so much for everything."

"No problem, if you need anything else call me," he instructed.

"But I have your phone battery," she reminded him.

"I've got a charger in the car, and a spare battery in my brief case, I'll be fine. Besides, you need it more than I do." He smiled wanly at her. She hugged him again, and he kissed her on the head. "It'll all be okay Lore, I promise," he whispered. He just hoped he could keep his promise.

******************************

Christopher Hayden was absolutely, positively, 100% in love with Lorelai Gilmore, but right now, he didn't know if that even counted for anything at all.

******************************

******************************

Saturday night found Logan Huntzberger in no better frame of mind to email his beloved. His golf game had been miserable. He was lucky if he could make par on most of the holes, and the random people he was paired with were all stodgy old men, which reminded him of his father and grandfather, and thus made him question his decision to return home for Richard and Emily's anniversary party. And to make matters worse, the drink carts were all manned by middle-aged women, who cooed over him, but did nothing to take his mind off Rory and did not serve scotch. He was stuck drinking beer - cheap beer at that.

He ordered an assortment of Indian food, and sat down again in attempts to compose an email.

To: Rory Gilmore  
From: Logan Huntzberger  
Re: Anniversary Parties

_Rory-  
You're right. I just got the invitation to your grandparent's anniversary party. I'm torn as to whether or not I should go. If it were just seeing my friends, and you, it would be worth it in a heartbeat, but then I have to factor in the horridness that is my parents. Unfortunately, my mother would never miss a social event that would give her the chance to look down her nose at other people, so I know they'll be in attendance. But of course there is always the sub-party, which is almost always worth it in the end.  
You know what? Screw it. Here's the truth: I'll go if you want me to go. If you don't want me there, I can completely understand that, and I won't go. I want to see you, but I don't want it to be awkward for you. After all, it is YOUR family event. So let me know what you decide. You have two weeks until the RSVP date. I'll wait for your decision. If I don't here from you, I'll assume that's a no.  
I hope you're doing well, and I hope to hear from you soon._

_Logan_

He quickly hit the send button, not allowing himself time to over think the situation. She deserved the truth, and he was tired of trying to say and do the right thing, hoping it was interpreted correctly. He shut down his computer, so he wouldn't be tempted to check for a reply every two minutes, and headed to the living room.

Logan had just settled into the couch when he heard the doorbell ring. He grabbed his wallet and head to the door to get his Indian food.

A perky blue-eyed brunette stood on the other side of his door, holding an expertly tied bag of take out food. "Your total is $22.61," she told him.

He paused momentarily and stared at her. She wasn't his Rory, but she kind of looked like her. She was shorter, and younger, but not all together unappealing.

"Sir, are you alright?" she asked after a few moments when he seemed to be frozen at the door.

"Oh yeah. Of course. Sorry about that, you just reminded me of someone I know," he explained. He handed her two twenties, "Keep the change."

"Wow, that's really generous of you, but it's too much," she said.

"Don't worry about it. As I have been told in the past, you can never pay too much for the convenience of having food delivered to your house." He thought of Rory, and his heart throbbed painfully. The delivery guys in their old neighborhood absolutely loved it when she ordered food. He had it on good authority from one of the restaurant owners, that they would fight about who got to deliver the orders, knowing how well she would tip them.

"Well, then, thank you very much," she told him. "Have a good night."

"You too." He shut the door as she walked away, and returned to his living room.

Logan set the bag down on the coffee table and went over to the bar to pour himself a drink. The startling appearance of Rory's junior doppelganger took him by surprise, and left him slightly shaken. He returned to the table with his scotch and began unpacking the bag of food. He opened the cartons only to find that he was no longer hungry.

*******************************

The remainder of his weekend passed without a response from Rory. By Monday morning, when he left for work, he was desperate to have something to distract him from waiting for a response that may never arrive.

Upon arrival in his office he buried himself in work, taking painstaking time to answer each email and respond to each voicemail. He even went out of his way to make a coffee run for the entire office just to keep busy. He found that was the problem with being good at what you did, you became so efficient you had time to spare. He couldn't afford to have spare time right now.

Around 3:00, after his desk was perfectly organized, he was prepared for all of his meetings for the next few days, and he had no outstanding messages (except from his father, but then when did Mitchum ever count?), his mobile began vibrating in his pocket. He grabbed the phone quickly, wondering who would be calling him. Most of his friends waited until after his work hours anymore, and if it was work related people called his office, his mobile number was a closely guarded secret. After years of being at Mitchum's beckon call he decided he would at least try to leave work at work for a while. Sure there were emergencies, but not everything was an emergency anymore. He looked at the screen before he answered.

"Hey man!" he answered happily, "What's going on?"

"How soon can you get here?" Colin asked frantically.

"Colin, what's going on? Where's here?" he asked, suddenly filling with worry. "Is it Steph? Finn?"

"It's Rory." Colin told him quietly.

"Rory?" Logan roared. "What's wrong with her?" He began shutting down his office preparing to take all necessary steps to be on the next plane to wherever 'here' was.

"Calm down Logan. Physically she's fine, but her mother and Luke were in an accident. Her mom is doing well, but Luke's in a coma, and well, Rory's freaking out."

Logan's heart rate slowed to almost normal. "You scared me Colin." He started setting his stuff back down in his office. "Why is it that you think I should be there?" Now that he knew Rory wasn't in physical danger, his stubborn side kicked in.

"You know how close she is to Luke. She's in a total panic and no one can calm her down," Colin explained.

"Not even Lorelai?" Logan asked. "What makes you think I can? I could just make it worse."

"Lorelai is pretty inconsolable herself. You always had a way of calming Rory down. Besides if nothing else, she could use you here to throw around your name." Colin said the last part flippantly, but Logan could hear the hope behind his voice.

"If you just want a Huntzberger, call Honor. Why are you even there?"

"Well Rory called Stephanie when she flew into town on Saturday night. Originally they were told that Luke should wake from his coma relatively quickly, and Rory just came in to give Lorelai support. But now, it's been three days, and things are getting worse. We've all been taking turns staying with her trying to calm her down, but she hasn't slept in days and I think she's got more coffee in her system than blood at his point." Logan could hear that Colin was genuinely worried about her.

"Colin, I don't-" Logan started, but Colin interrupted.

"Look, damn it! I never get in the middle of your stuff, but you need to get past your stupid pride and come be here. The next time you get in trouble I promise, I'll come bail you out no questions asked, but you need to be here now."

Logan sighed deeply. "Fine I'll call you as soon as I book a flight."

"No. One of the McRae planes is out there, I've sent it to the San Francisco airport. It should be there within the next hour, go straight to the airport." Logan started to protest that he needed to stop at home and get his stuff but Colin wouldn't even let him get a word in. "Between Finn and I, I'm sure we have plenty of your clothes, or hell, we'll buy you new ones. JUST GET HERE." The last part came out as an order.

"Sir, yes Sir," Logan quipped smartly.

"I'm sorry Logan, it's just-" Colin started.

"No worries. It's part of her charm, you just want to take care of her."

"We're at Hartford Memorial. Call me when the plane lands." Logan stood motionless for a moment after Colin hung up the phone. It must be bad if Colin was worried, he was the one resolutely against letting Rory back into his life. He walked to the door and flicked out the lights.

"Beth, something's come up and I have to go out of town for a couple days. Rearrange my meetings set for tomorrow, see if I can teleconference, and I'll call you some time tomorrow morning when I know what's going on and when and where my meetings can be reset," Logan informed his assistant briskly.

"Is everything okay?" she asked curiously, knowing he likely wouldn't share, but still having to try.

"No. It's not. But, hopefully it will be soon enough." He strode into the elevator and hit the button for the garage.

******************************

He made it to the airport in good time. The plane was gassed and ready to go when he arrived.

"The flight will be about 6 hours sir, we've got a strong headwind today. I'm James, your captain, and this is Margot, my co-captain. Mr. McRae had some food delivered just a few moments ago for your flight, so help yourself if you get hungry."

Logan nodded at the man, but barely registered any of the words he said. Food and 6 hours. He pulled his mobile out to text Colin, only to be rebuked by the pilot. "Sorry sir, since there's no cabin crew, I'm going to have to ask you to turn that off now."

"No problem," he said numbly. What was he going to do for 6 hours. The last thing he wanted right now was 6 hours alone. He couldn't get drunk, he needed to function as soon as he got off the plane, he couldn't work, he didn't even have time to grab any of his files, he couldn't even use his iPod at the moment to drown out the sound of his own thoughts.

He rummaged around in the armrest between the seats. It contained several magazines as well as a notepad and pen. He pulled out the pen and pad, and began making lists. Lists of people to call, people to email, information his assistant needed from him, information he needed sent to him, places he could stay, places he could have meetings or use conference facilities, and lastly, things to say, or not say, to Rory. At some point he fell asleep, only to be awoken by the pilot telling him to prepare for landing.

Between the flight time and the time difference, he arrived in Connecticut around midnight. He rubbed his bleary eyes and stepped off the plane at the private airstrip to find a car waiting for him. He turned on his mobile to find several missed calls, all from his assistant, within the first hour of his flight. Too late to do anything with those now.

"We're here sir. Mr. McRae said to tell you they're on the 6th floor," the driver told him kindly.

"Thank you, my good man. I'm sorry to have kept you out so late," Logan told the man as he stepped from the car.

"Think nothing of it. Should you need a ride feel free to call me and I'll come take you where you need to go." He pressed his card into Logan's hand. Logan nodded and pocketed the card. He straightened his tie, put on some confidence, and walked purposefully into the hospital.

He stopped at the nurses station on the 6th floor just outside the elevator bank. "I'm looking for Luke Danes' room?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake anyone sleeping in the waiting room.

"Room 624, end of the hall on the left," the nurse pointed down the furthest hallway. "I'd tell you that visiting hours are over, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to apply to that room. There have been people here nonstop for days."

He smiled knowingly, no one stood a chance against a Gilmore Girl on a mission. "Thank you for your help."

As he approached the room he paused to take in the scene. Colin was sitting on the end of a bench reading a paper, Finn was curled up asleep, with his head in Colin's lap and his legs draped across Rory, holding her hand, and Rory was sitting eerily still, staring at the wall with the tracks of dried tears staining her cheeks.

He walked up to Colin and rested his hand lightly on his shoulder. "Hey man, I got here as soon as I could, is there any new news?"

Rory's head snapped in his direction, and she shoved Finn's legs from her lap. "Logan?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from either crying or lack of use, or both. He nodded once. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I called him and asked him to come," Colin explained. Colin pushed at Finn's head to get him to move.

Finn stood up, blinking several times, "Logan? Mate is that you?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah, Finn it's me." Logan smiled at his friend.

"It's about bloody time. I'll go get the coffee." Finn headed off towards the cafeteria. Rory and Colin both stood up.

"I'll, uh, give you guys a minute," Colin said, following Finn down the hall.

They both waited until the hall was clear to speak. "Ace, do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked gently.

"It's Luke," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. He held out his arms, and she walked into them, wrapping her arms around his waist so tightly he was afraid he wouldn't be able to breathe.

"Shhh," he soothed, stroking her back and her hair. "It's going to be okay. Just let it all out."

She stood there for another minute or so weeping into his shirt, before she finally pulled back. He didn't want to let her go, but knew that it was for the best, least for now.

"Can you give me some more details now?" he asked softly, not wanting to upset her further.

She nodded, than began, "My mom and Luke were in a car accident, my mom is fine, but Luke's side took the impact, and he hit his head on the drivers side window. He lost consciousness on the ride to the hospital, and he hasn't woken up yet. He's got a broken arm and some broken ribs. The doctors thought he'd come around, but it's gotten worse, he's in a coma." She broke down again, but instead of letting Logan comfort her, she walked over to the door of the room and looked in.

Logan followed her over and peered in the window. The Luke that was normally larger than life looked frail lying in the bed, with monitors and tubes everywhere. He searched the room for Lorelai, but didn't see her. "Where's Lorelai?"

Rory sniffed before answering. "She took April to my grandparents to get some sleep, and stayed with her because she didn't think it would be fair to leave her in a house full of strangers. They'll be back in the morning."

Logan could see the scene unfolding before him. Rory volunteering to stay just so someone was there if he woke up. "Doesn't Luke have other family?"

"His sister Liz and her husband TJ are on the Renaissance Fair Circuit right now, and aren't accessible by phone, and no one's been able to find Jess yet," Rory explained. "Logan I'm scared. What if…" she trailed off.

"Rory," he grabbed her by both arms, "don't think like that. We'll get through this. I'm here with you for anything you need. Do you need me to Huntzberger someone?" he asked in a teasing tone, then watched as a small smile played upon her lips.

"Well, we've Hayden'd them and Gilmore'd them already, maybe a Hunzbergering would help," she retorted. She almost laughed, he was making progress. Right now his goal was small, get her to relax a little. Not even leave the hospital, but relax enough to get a little rest.

"Why don't we sit down for a while? When was the last time you ate? Or drank anything other than coffee? Or slept?" He tried to keep his tone light, but was genuinely concerned for her.

She agreed and returned to her spot on the bench. "Finn, Colin and Steph have been good about bringing me food. I see no reason to drink anything but coffee. And, I think I slept Saturday morning, before my dad called."

She was working on 72 hours of no sleep. "How about this, you try to get some sleep and I'll stay awake for the next shift?"

"No Logan, I can't sleep."

"Then how about you just rest your eyes for a few minutes. I'm on West Coast time, so it's not even midnight for me and I slept on the plane. I'll stay right here with you and catch up with Finn and Colin." He tried again.

"Send Finn and Colin home, they deserve a night of rest."

"So do you."

"Okay, send Finn and Colin home and I'll rest my eyes for 10 minutes," she compromised.

"30 minutes."

"20."

"Deal." Logan agreed readily, knowing if she could get to sleep she'd be out for at least 2 hours.

Logan watched as she tried to get comfortable on the bench, with no pillows and a thin blanket. "Here," he said as he shrugged out of his jacket. "Use this. And I'll sit down at this end and you can lean on me."

"Okay," she said surprisingly willing.

Ten minutes later, she was asleep, and Finn and Colin returned with the coffee. Logan held his finger to his lips to indicate that they should be quiet.

"Finally got her to sleep Mate?"

"She's resting her eyes for 20 minutes. Why don't you two go home and get some rest?"

The two men glanced at each other. "She asked that I send you home. You can come back in a few hours and bring supplies, decent food, a blanket or two and a pillow, and a change of clothes for me please. I don't want to sit in this suit forever."

They agreed and Logan watched the walk away, grateful he had such good friends to look out for his girl.

******************************

"Rory!" a loud male voice yelled. Logan woke up with a start, not knowing what time it was, and saw a man coming down the hall. Rory was still asleep on his lap until the man yelled, at which point she woke up, and rushed towards the man quickly, throwing herself into his arms.

*******************************

Logan Huntzberger was absolutely, positively, 100% in love with Rory Gilmore, but right now, he didn't know if that was enough.

*******************************

*******************************

**Author's Note: Okay, okay I know it's been a while. I'm sorry. School, well, is taking up way too much of my time right now. **

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, David Sutcliffe, or Matt Czuchry, or anything else you recognize. I do however enjoy Matt Czuchry on The Good Wife every week. **

**To any of you still reading: Thanks, and I appreciate your comments and feed back. **

**Next on Winning Back the Gilmore Girls: Who's yelling for Rory in the hall? Will Luke ever wake up? Will Christopher continue to be helpful, or is helping Lorelai with Luke involved too much for him?**


	9. Chapter 9 More Progress

Logan Huntzberger hating waking up to surprises. Waking up to someone else yelling his - he couldn't even think of a proper description for his relationship with Rory right now - _whatever's_, name had to be the worst surprise wake up he'd had in a long time.

It had been more than a minute now, and she was still hugging, who ever that was. He'd finally had enough; he stood up and cleared his throat.

"Oh," she said quickly. "Logan, this is Jess."

Now he recognized the guy. It'd been a year and a half, and it was the middle of the night. The florescent lights of the hospital cast everything in a harsh glow.

He stuck out his hand politely. "Hi, Logan Huntzberger, nice to meet you." He wondered if he could pull off pretending not to remember the guy. Of course he remembered him, but he also remembered his appalling behavior from that night, and Rory's subsequent trip to see him in Philadelphia.

"We've met," Jess said with a sneer, extending his hand anyhow. _So much for that plan._

"Right, right. Good to see you again. Sorry it's under such horrible circumstances," Logan said offering his condolences.

"Rory, what is this guy doing here? Luke said you two spilt up." Jess looked to Rory for an answer, completely ignoring Logan.

"We, uh, did. Logan's just here as a friend to support me," Rory explained. Logan winced, he didn't like being "here as a friend," not that he didn't want to support her, but he wanted to be more.

"Geez Rory, haven't you learned your lesson with him yet?" Jess asked.

"Hey!" Logan interjected, not liking at all where this seemed to be heading.

Jess turned toward Logan. "I'm here now Richie, you can go back to your castle. This is a family matter."

Logan took a deep breath and stepped backwards. Man he wanted to hit this guy. If things had gone differently he would be family, and not dismissible like this. He looked to Rory to find out what she wanted only to find her staring at Jess. In his just woken state, he couldn't tell if she wanted to kiss him or kill him.

"Just shut up Jess," Rory scolded. "I didn't even know Logan was coming."

"You know what, Jess is right, this is a family matter," Logan started bitterly. "I'll just see myself out. Call me if you need anything Ace." Before waiting for a response from either of them, he headed toward the door. He saw the smug look on Jess's face as he passed him, and slowed briefly considering actually taking a swing at the guy.

"Logan, wait!" Rory called before he could get to far. He stopped, but didn't bother to turn around. He heard the tap of her shoes, and felt the hand she placed on his shoulder when she reached him. "Don't go. Not yet, not like this."

"Rory," he started, not really knowing what to say. He didn't want to leave her, but he didn't know what good it would do if he stayed. He gave up trying to find the words and shrugged.

They remained silent for a minute, frozen in their positions, him facing the door, and her standing behind him with her hand on his shoulder.

"Please?" she asked finally.

He nodded and turned to face her. They walked together back toward Jess.

"Why do you even want this guy here, Rory?" Jess asked snottily when they reached him.

"I just do."

Logan stood beside her not knowing what to say. She didn't know what he could do for her either, but she knew she wanted him there, and that made his heart beat accelerate slightly.

"Fine. I'm going to go find a nurse and see what I can learn about Luke's condition," Jess said. He then turned and stalked back down the hall to the nurses' station leaving Logan and Rory alone again.

"Why do you want me to do here Rory?" Logan asked hesitantly. He didn't want to upset her, but he didn't want to get into a family mess either. He knew it would probably be worse when Lorelai showed up in the morning.

A look of hurt filled her face. "If you don't want to be here, then by all means feel free to leave," she told him sharply.

"Rory," he started, reaching out to grab her arm before she too could stalk down the hall. "I didn't mean it like that. I just, I don't want to cause any problems for you," he tried to explain.

"Oh," she mumbled. "I want you to…" she trailed off looking up and meeting his eyes. He held her gaze, but didn't let her off the hook. "Damn it Logan, I just want you here. I would never have called you and asked you to come here, but now that you're here, I don't want you to leave yet." She turned slightly red at this admission.

"Okay, I'll stay." He released his hold on her arm, and returned to the bench they were sleeping on before Jess's unpleasant arrival. She came and sat down beside him. "Do you want to try to get some more sleep?" he asked.

"No I'm good," she returned. "I think I'll go grab a cup of coffee though, do you want me to get you one?"

"Sure," he said resigned to being awake for the rest of the night. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. "Here. It's on me." He handed her a twenty.

"No way, you're here for my crisis, your coffee's on me Buster," she told him with a smile, then stood up and headed towards the cafeteria.

He watched her walk away, then leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. It was going to be a very long night.

**********

He wasn't sure how long his eyes were closed for, but he opened them when he heard footsteps coming in his direction. _Jess. _Great, and Rory wasn't back yet.

"What are you still doing here?" Jess asked with his ever-present sneer.

"Rory wants me to stay, so I'm staying," Logan told him firmly, trying not to sound too aggressive, as he really didn't want to start a fight. "Did you find out anything?" he asked trying to change the subject.

Jess leaned up against the wall across from the bench staring at him. "The night nurses don't know shit," he said roughly. "He's in a coma, and if I want to know anything more than that I have to wait for the doctor to come on shift in the morning."

"You want me to try to find something out?" Logan asked, offering a tentative olive branch. Jess gave him a dirty look. "No offense, but you're not exactly the nicest guy in the world."

"Fine Richie, go see what you can find out," Jess practically dared him.

Logan passed Rory on his way to the nurses' station. "You're not leaving are you?" she asked in a worried voice.

He wanted to scoff at her, he'd said he'd stay and he would. "I'm just going to see what kind of information I can get out of the nurses on Luke's condition. I'll be right back," he told her.

She nodded at him. "Well hurry back, if this fine brew gets cold it's completely undrinkable," she told him lifting up the coffee cups in her hands.

**********

He reached the nurses' station to find only one person present. A man. He was really hoping for a woman. With a woman he could probably charm information out of her, but with a man, he'd probably have to intimidate the information out of him. He waited patiently for the man to look up at him. A full two minutes later Logan finally cleared his throat to call attention to his presence.

"Can I help you sir?" the man asked tiredly.

"Yes, I'm just here to inquire into Luke Danes' condition," he said politely.

"And who are you sir?"

"I'm a friend of the family," he said trying to avoid having to give his name.

"Like I told the guy who just asked, Mr. Danes is in a coma, and if you want to know more you'll have to wait until tomorrow." The nurse looked down and returned his attention to his paper work.

"Can I see his chart?" Logan asked nicely. Between himself, Colin and Finn, they'd had numerous head injuries and hospital stays, he could surely decipher some information from the chart alone.

"Are you a doctor?" the nurse asked snidely.

"No, but-" before he could even finish his sentence the nurse cut him off.

"Well then no, you most certainly cannot see his chart."

"How about you call the on-call doctor then?" Logan said insistently.

The nurse was clearly irritated now. "And who should I say is calling? The family friend?"

"Logan Huntzberger," he said firmly. He watched as recognition overtook the man's face. He could practically see the gigantic sign that graced the entrance to the Huntzberger wing of the hospital appearing in the guy's mind.

"Huntz- Huntzberger?" he stuttered.

"Yes, Huntzberger. Do you need me to spell that for you? H-U-N-T-"

"No sir, not at all. Let me call the on-call doctor." He picked up the phone.

"If you'd rather not call the doctor you can just let me read the chart," Logan offered helpfully.

"Of course," the nurse said, suddenly helpful as could be. "If you need any help reading the doctor's messy handwriting, please let me know." He pulled a file from a stack behind him, and slid it across the counter to Logan.

"Thanks," Logan said as he flipped open the file and began reading the charts.

Ten minutes agonizing minutes later Logan closed the file and handed it back to the nurse that had been watching him eagerly the entire time. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" the man asked.

"No, I've got enough information for now," Logan told him. He turned on his heels and headed back to Rory, Jess, and his hopefully still warm cup of coffee.

**********

Rory and Jess were in deep conversation when Logan returned. They both looked up when he arrived, and Rory blushed furiously. They were talking about him.

"So Richie, did you learn anything?" Jess asked.

Rory looked at him eager for news, and held out a cup of coffee for him. "It shouldn't be frozen just yet."

"Yes I did as a matter fact," he said to Jess. He paused and took a sip of his coffee, mainly just to annoy Jess further. "Ugh, this coffee is horrible!"

"Sorry," Rory apologized. "I should have warned you more thoroughly."

He shrugged.

"Well, what did you learn?" Jess finally asked impatiently.

"They think the swelling in Luke's brain is causing his coma. It's decreased between scans taken Sunday night and the same scans taken Monday afternoon. They're planning to scan again in the morning. If the new scans show further decreased swelling and he still doesn't wake up, they're going to have to start looking for alternative reasons behind the coma," Logan explained. They both stared at him. "And it's Logan, NOT Richie."

"How did you get that information?" Jess questioned him.

Logan merely smiled at him.

"Was she cute?" Rory asked, clearly knowing Logan's methods of operations.

"No, HE most definitely was not cute."

She looked over at Jess, "He Huntzberger'd the poor guy," she said with a light laugh as though that explained everything.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

Logan shrugged. If Jess couldn't figure that out, he surely wouldn't stoop to explaining it.

Rory however was not of the same mind. "It means he used his name to get information."

Jess narrowed his eyes at Logan for a moment, still trying to process the information, then his whole face changed. The light bulb finally went off. "Your last name is Huntzberger?"

"Hence the term," Logan said coolly.

"Huntzberger Pub-" Jess started.

"Yes." Logan cut him off, not wanting to discuss it.

"Thanks for getting the information Logan," Rory said softly.

"Hey, I'm just here to help," he said.

Jess grunted in annoyance, then got up off the bench and pulled a book out of his back pocket. "I'm going to go get a cup of coffee," he said pointedly, clearly giving Rory a look for not bringing him a cup earlier.

"Sorry," she said completely unapologetically.

Logan chuckled and took Jess's place on the bench when he walked away. He set the coffee on the floor and ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm really glad you're here. I mean it," she told him.

"So am I."

"Did you get the poor nurse shaking in his white Easy Spirits?" she asked in a joking tone.

"Not really. It's been such a long time since I've Huntzberger'd anyone I think I forgot how to do it," he told her.

"Really?" she said incredulously.

"Really I forgot? Or really it's been a long time?" he asked for clarification.

"Yes." She wanted the answer to both questions. "But more the latter."

"Of course I didn't really forget, I'm just a little rusty," he told her in answer to the first part.

"And?" She clearly wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"The whole making it on my own thing wouldn't exactly work if I constantly dropped my daddy's name to get my way now would it?" Sarcasm coated his answer.

"Well," she started, "I guess not."

He looked down at his shoes and reached to pick up the coffee cup again. "This really is horrible coffee," he attempted to change the subject.

"For what it's worth, I am really proud of you," Rory told him. She put her hand on his arm patting it kindly.

"Thanks," he said. It came out snarky but he honestly meant it to be sincere. "So, what were you and Jess talking about when I showed up?"

"Oh you know, just catching up…" she said vaguely.

"Rory…" he shook his head, letting her know he wasn't buying it.

"It was nothing Logan, can we just drop it?"

"Fine. So what do you want to talk about?"

"Are you coming to my grandparents anniversary party?" she asked suddenly.

"Did you get my last email?"

"When did you send it?"

"Saturday night," he told her.

"Nope. I've been too stressed out to bother."

He was shocked. He'd never known anything to bother Rory to the point of not checking her email. "Well I sent you my answer there."

"Why don't you just tell me what it is?" she asked curiously.

"I don't want to go into it here," he stated simply but firmly hoping she'd just let it go.

She searched his face for a reason, but finally just nodded at him in acquiescence and let it drop. "You know, you can go to your hotel if you want," she told him after a few moments.

He looked down at his watch, it was almost 6 am, 3 am at home. "Since Jess is here would you come with me?"

"I can't."

"It's just sleep Rory. I promise." He sighed exasperatedly.

"No, it's not that. It's Jess. If something happens he won't call my mom, he hates her," she explained.

Logan understood. He'd never be that mean, but he could appreciate the sentiment. "Will you come with me after she gets here? You really need more than the few hours of sleep you got earlier," his voice was filled with concern.

"We'll see."

He could accept that. He pulled out his phone and began scrolling through emails. If he was stuck here, not sleeping, the least he could do was work. He had no desire to have a serious conversation with Rory in this setting.

Rory seemed to get the hint and resumed a novel she was reading earlier. When Jess returned thirty minutes later, they were both engrossed in their own things. Logan glanced up at the sound of footsteps but didn't say a word. Jess slid down to the floor on the opposite wall, and read his book.

Around 8:00 the wing of the hospital they were in began to come alive. More than the occasional nurse came by, and visitors who actually obeyed the rules began to arrive.

Logan stretched his arms and rolled his head from side to side. "I'm going to go find some drinkable coffee," he announced. "Do you want me to bring you any?"

"Yes please," Rory replied immediately.

"Jess?" Logan asked.

"Uh, sure. Black is fine from where ever you go. Thanks."

Logan walked down the hall to the elevator realizing that that was the first sentence he'd ever heard Jess speak that wasn't completely dripping with sarcasm or snark. Progress.

**********

He returned 20 minutes later with a full tray of large drip coffees knowing how quickly Rory could go through coffee. He also brought a box of pastries and an equally large latte for himself.

"My hero," she greeted him happily when he returned. She took a coffee from the tray, and tried to take a Danish from the box.

"Can you at least let me set the box down?" he asked teasingly. He set the box down on the bench, and handed Jess a cup of coffee.

"Thanks man."

"No problem." He smiled as Rory almost ripped the box open to get to the pastries. "I thought Colin and Finn were feeding you!" he exclaimed.

"They only bring healthy food," she told him with a snort that indicated that they should know better.

"How dare they!" he said in mock astonishment.

Jess laughed and Rory said, "I know, right?"

Soon the gravity of the situation hit them again and they all returned to their beverages. They were silent until they heard the click of high heels coming down the hall.

"Jess?" he heard a young voice ask.

Rory looked up. "Mom!"

Logan turned toward the footsteps to see Lorelai Gilmore, and a teenage girl he didn't recognize approaching them.

"April, hey!" Jess said in return. She flew at him almost knocking him over.

"Jess," Lorelai said coldly. "Glad you could make it."

For once Logan was grateful for Jess's presence, seemed like Lorelai hated him just as much as he hated her, so maybe Logan would look a little better by comparison.

Lorelai walked right by him to hug Rory. He stood perfectly still hoping she wouldn't notice him.

"What are _you _doing here?" she asked in a tone just as cold as the one she used on Jess. But unlike Jess, Lorelai expected an answer from Logan.

"I, uh, came to make sure Rory was okay," he told her honestly. She couldn't get upset about that could she?

She opened her mouth to speak, but Rory cut her off. "Leave Logan alone Mom, he's being a good guy. Look, he brought coffee and pastries." She pointed down to the cups of coffee and the box of pastries.

Lorelai pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep exhale. "Kid…" she started.

Logan decided to speak up before Lorelai could go any further. "Ace, I'm going to go check into my hotel, take a shower, grab a nap and make a couple of phone calls. I'll be back in a few hours. Okay?" he said to her softly. He really didn't want to cause problems.

Her eyes met his, and she smiled hopefully because she understood what he was trying to do for her. "Can I come with you?" she asked quietly. "It's been… too long since I've had a shower."

"Course," Logan replied simply. He was ready to leave, but he wanted to give Rory a second to talk to Lorelai. "I'll go call Colin's car service."

As he walked away he could hear Lorelai's resigned sigh. Regardless of how she felt about Logan, she knew her daughter needed the rest.

**********

Despite the atrociousness of the situation, Logan Huntzberger couldn't help but smile. He was finally making progress.

**********

Christopher Hayden pulled into the parking lot of Hartford Memorial Hospital around 1:30 pm for his daily visit. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration; he never thought he'd be making daily trips to see Luke in the hospital. He sighed and fixed his hair in the rearview mirror before getting out of the car. He knew he wasn't _really_ going to go see Luke, but that's what it was starting to feel like. He pulled a tray of coffees off the passenger seat, and two bags of tacos off the floor. Both Lorelai and Rory would probably be hungry. When he got out of the car, he beeped the doors locked, and headed towards the sixth floor, hoping today was better than yesterday.

**********

_Yesterday_

_When Christopher arrived at the hospital on Monday afternoon everyone seemed to be on edge. Rory was anxiously pacing the hall, while Lorelai was just as anxiously sitting on the bench bouncing her legs to relieve some of the excess tension. April seemed to have taken after her father in his motionless state, as she sat rigidly beside him, holding his uninjured hand in a death grip. _

"_Dad!" Rory said when he approached, making a detour from her circuit and hugging him. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Just came to check on my girls and see if there was anything I could do to help," he replied lightly as he hugged her, hoping Lorelai didn't choose to go off on his word choice. _

"_I'm doing okay Dad, but could you try to get Mom out of here? She hasn't left the hospital since Saturday morning, and neither she nor April have slept at all," Rory whispered confidentially. _

"_Have you slept recently?" Christopher asked suspiciously. _

_Rory ducked her head slightly, "Well, no. But I'm more practiced in the art of pulling all nighters, I'm a recent college grad."_

"_Ror, I want you to get some sleep too," he told her. _

"_I will Dad, I promise, but Mom first." He nodded accepting her wishes. He released her from his hug and went to sit next to Lorelai on the bench._

"_How's Luke?" he asked, knowing that was likely the best way to start. _

_She blinked twice and looked up at him. "Christopher?" She seemed surprised to see him. He wasn't sure why, as he was there Saturday night, and then stopped in to check on her Sunday morning before he and Gigi headed back to Boston._

"_Nope, Santa Claus," he said with a grin. _

"_Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at work?"_

"_I came to make sure you were okay, and see if you needed anything."_

"_You didn't have to," she told him._

"_I know. I wanted too. Plus, my daughter is here too," he reminded her. She looked up at a pacing Rory. "So, back to my original question, how's Luke?"_

"_He's…" she sighed, "no better, no worse."_

"_When was the last time you ate or slept Lore?"_

"_I've had coffee," she started weakly. She continued before he could scold her. "Rory grabbed some snacks from the vending machine a few hours ago, and I'll have plenty of time to sleep later, it's no big deal."_

_He could tell she aimed for a dismissive mark, but it fell far short. "What about April?" he asked. _

"_She hasn't left Luke's bedside except to use the bathroom since she arrived."_

_Christopher exhaled sharply, and said a quick silent prayer for the nastiness he was about to exude, hoping it didn't cause any damage and only reached his goal. "You and Rory are adults Lorelai, you can sustain yourself on coffee alone and not sleep if you want to. But that girl in there is a child. You need to suck it up, go in there, and drag her out. Go make her eat some real food and take her to get some sleep. It's not healthy." _

_Fire blazed in Lorelai Gilmore's eyes, and Christopher was afraid she may actually rip his head off. But almost as soon as the flames arrived, they disappeared. She looked at him sadly. "You're right. When did you become the authority on parenting?" she asked wryly. _

"_I'm not," he admitted. "I just have a clearer perspective on this one little thing." _

_She met his eyes, and he could see the realization dawn on her, he knew she'd just seen through his whole charade. _

"_Dirty pool Christopher. You've made your point though."_

"_So you'll take April to go get some food and some sleep? And maybe get some yourself while you're at it?" he asked hopefully. _

"_I will take April to get some food, and sleep. Not right now, but before the day is up, yes." _

"_Pinky swear?" he asked holding up his hand toward her in a childish manner. _

"_What, are you six Christopher?" she asked him incredulously. He merely flexed his little finger at her inviting her to link her own with his. She sighed, and finally locked her own pinky with his. He smiled at her and she returned his smile with a small one of her own._

"_You remember the consequences of breaking a pinky promise don't you?" he asked casually as he got up off the bench. _

"_Christopher!" she exclaimed. "You wouldn't!"_

"_You don't really want to find out do you?" She scowled at him. "Is there anything you need me to do for you while I'm here?"_

"_No. I think you've done enough," she said coolly. _

"_You need anything before I go, Kid?" he asked Rory. _

"_You're leaving so soon?"_

_Lorelai was giving him dirty looks, he could tell she wasn't truly upset, but she wasn't happy with him either. "Yeah I think so. Do you want me to get you some real food before I go?"_

"_Colin and Finn will be here soon, I'll be okay… but if you're coming back around this time tomorrow do you think you could bring lunch?" she asked hopefully. _

"_Anything for you." He hugged her once again and kissed her on top of the head. "Goodbye Lorelai," he called waggling his pinky at her in reminder. She glowered at him and he chuckled lightly as he left the hall. _

**********

He entered the hallway to Luke's room to find Lorelai again sitting on the bench, and some dark haired guy leaned up against he opposite wall with a book.

"Hey," he said lightly when he reached her.

"Christopher," she said in a tone that wasn't exactly frigid, but not exactly warm in greeting.

"I brought you some coffee and a couple bags of tacos," he said, setting them down beside her.

Her eyes lit up at the mention of coffee. "Thanks." He took a second to look at her, she had changed her clothes and the dark circles around her eyes seemed to have dissipated slightly.

"So…" he started, then flexed his little finger meaningfully.

"Yes, Chris, I took April to get some real food and some sleep," she sighed.

"I'm glad."

"Me too," she said quietly.

"So tacos?" he asked, gesturing to the bag. "They're from the place by Yale that you and Rory like."

"I suppose," she said with a small smile opening the gigantic bag. "Jess, you want a taco?"

The guy sitting on the floor looked up, "Uh, that's okay," he hesitantly declined.

"I brought plenty," Christopher responded politely as he wracked his brain trying to figure out who this guy was.

"He really did Jess," Lorelai assured him.

"Okay." He stood up and walked over to the bag pulling out a taco.

"Chris this is Jess Mariano, Luke's nephew," she said by way of introduction. "Jess, this is Christopher Hayden, Rory's dad."

Jess stuck out his hand to shake Chris's and Chris suddenly realized who the guy was. He shook Jess's hand briefly, then looked at Lorelai. "He's the one who broke her arm!"

"It was an accident!" Jess exclaimed.

At the same time Lorelai spoke, "It was a long time ago Chris, let it go."

He nodded, and took a seat next to Lorelai, taking a coffee from the tray. "Help yourself to a coffee if you want Jess."

"Uh thanks," Jess mumbled with his mouth full of taco.

"So speaking of Rory, where is she?" he asked.

Lorelai groaned and Jess snickered. "Richie showed up and dragged her off to go take a shower and get some sleep," Jess explained.

"Richie?" Christopher repeated, having no clue who that was.

"Logan, Chris, Logan showed up," Lorelai told him.

"I thought Logan was in California," Christopher said, honestly confused.

"Apparently his friends that have been hanging out here and taking care of Rory called him because they thought she needed him," Lorelai said in an annoyed tone.

"Sounds like they made the right call."

"What?" Lorelai snapped.

"He got her to leave the hospital, and get some rest, Lore. Even you have to admit she needed it."

"I guess," she replied.

"Sometimes we all need someone a little older and a little wiser to come in and take charge for a minute," he said in a teasing tone, putting his arm around Lorelai's shoulder and squeezing her lightly reminding her about yesterday.

She shot him a quick dirty look, then laid her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for yesterday Christopher. You were right," she told him softly. "But enjoy this while it lasts, it may be the only time it ever happens for you." She then sat back up and shrugged out from under his arm.

"Do I smell tacos?" a voice came from down the hall.

"Hey Ror," Christopher called back at his daughter, as she and Logan headed toward them at a slightly quickened pace.

"Gimme gimme gimme," Rory said when she reached the group. Jess laughed and held up the bag for her.

"Nice to see you again Logan," Christopher said extending his hand.

"You too Mr. Hayden," Logan replied shaking his hand.

"Please, call me Christopher."

"Jess, why don't you go drag April out here for some tacos," Lorelai suggested.

Jess nodded, and went to get April. Soon the six of them were gathered around the tray of coffees and bags of tacos, all eating in silence. Christopher discreetly checked out Rory and Logan. Rory looked slightly rested, she too was wearing different clothes, and her hair was still damp. Logan was standing close to her, but not touching her.

A cough from behind made all of them look up. "I have the results of Mr. Danes' brain scan from this morning," he said calmly.

"And?" April asked eagerly.

"The swelling has gone down almost completely," he explained. The group around him started smiling. "He could wake up at any time, but if he doesn't wake up in the next twelve hours, we'll know that something else is causing his coma, and we'll have to start trying to find out what it is."

"Can't you start looking for whatever it is now?" April asked.

"I'm sorry, but no. We have to give the swelling time to counteract its own effects."

They all nodded somberly and the doctor headed back down the hall.

Lorelai's eyes welled up with tears, and Christopher leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Have you been in to see him at all yet?" She shook her head in response. "You need to."

"I can't," she whispered back. "It's my fault."

Christopher sighed and grabbed her hand. He dragged her across the hall and opened the door to Luke's room. He entered the room and pulled her in behind him, leaving everyone else in the hall staring after them. He shut the door firmly behind her.

"Lorelai, talk to him," he stressed.

"Why? He can't hear me, how does it help?" she argued.

"You don't know that, there are plenty of studies done on coma patients, several show that they can hear people depending on the type of the coma. But this isn't for him, it's for you. You need to get it all off your chest."

She lowered her eyes, and he knew she knew he was right. He walked towards the door but she called out to him. "Stay with me please?"

He nodded and went to stand next to her. She grasped his hand and began to speak. "Hey Luke it's me…"

Christopher tried to block it all out. He didn't want to hear what she had to say. How the hell did he end up here? He was moral support for the love of his life, while she confessed her feelings to her ex-fiance. What kind of sick twisted life was he living? He berated himself for his inability to let her go.

"… so I'm sorry. Please wake up," she said in closing. Then she promptly burst into tears, and threw herself into Christopher's arms.

He held her close and rubbed her back as he had always done. "Feel better?" he asked quietly.

"A little, yeah." She clung to him tighter still drenching his dress shirt in tears. "I need to go grab something, I'll be right back." She suddenly freed herself from his arms. He started to follow her out the door and she spun around. "Wait here please? If you're not in here, I may not be able to come back in," she pleaded with him. "I'll only be a minute," she promised.

He nodded and she left the room. He plopped himself down in the chair beside Luke's bed. A minute for Lorelai Gilmore was never actually a minute. He remembered once when they were teenagers and she told him to wait for 'just a minute' and it was two and a half hours. "Hey Luke," he said suddenly, deciding to unburden himself since he was there. "I know we're not even friends or anything, but I just wanted to say thank you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for, well, you know what I'm sorry for. But thank you, for taking care of my girls, and looking after my daughter growing up. I owe you more than I can ever repay. There was a time when I thought I would wish this upon you, to be out of the picture and all, but not now. Please wake up, your family needs you. They're all here, Jess, April, Rory and Lorelai. Please, wake up," Christopher finished softly just as the door reopened and Lorelai reentered, he stood up immediately.

"I brought his hat," she said. She walked over and placed it on the table next to him. "I'm sure he'll want it as soon as he wakes up." She sniffled again and Christopher pulled her back into a hug.

They stood like that for a few minutes. Christopher facing Luke's bed, and Lorelai burying herself in his shoulder crying. Christopher finally closed his eyes and rest his own head on Lorelai's.

"What the hell are you doing here?" a low gravelly voice asked from the bed.

Christopher looked over to the bed to see a very pissed off Luke Danes staring at him.

Lorelai let go of Christopher immediately and spun around. "Luke?" she asked. He headed towards the door. "Chris, wait, don't go." She reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him.

**********

Despite the atrociousness of the situation, Christopher Hayden couldn't help but smile. The situation was more confusing than ever, but at least he knew she wanted him there.

**********

**********

**AN: I know, I know, another long time. I swear I'll be better soon. Finals are done in two weeks, then I'm on vacay for almost a month! **

**I don't own Gilmore Girls. If you're still reading, I'd love to know what you think! **

**S**


	10. Chapter 10 Regress

Christopher Hayden was in a sticky situation, he felt Lorelai's hand squeeze his own tightly. Part of him wanted to stand next to Lorelai and hold her hand while she faced a very upset Luke, and part of him felt it would be more appropriate for him to let the two of them talk in private. He thought about what he would want if he were in the situation, and disentangled his hand from hers. She looked at him, her eyes filled with concern, like she was silently asking him not to leave.

"I'm going to go get the nurse, and tell everyone else that Luke's awake," he said as he headed towards the door. "Luke, I'm glad you're back with us."

"Chris…" Lorelai started.

"I'll be back," he told her, and Luke grumbled from the bed.

"So what the hell is going on here?" Luke asked as Christopher left the room, he was intent on getting the door shut before he could hear Lorelai answer.

In the hall he looked up as he closed the door to see Rory and Logan standing close together, eating tacos, and Jess and April in quiet discussion not far away. All four heads turned to look at him when the door clicked shut.

"Luke's awake," he said simply. "I'm going to go get the nurse."

April headed for the door quickly but Christopher put his hand out to stop her. "Get out of my way," she said, not trying to be rude, but trying to get to her dad.

"I think it would be best if we let the nurse check him out first," he told her quietly. He hoped she'd listen, but he knew he had no right to restrain her. She started to go around him when Jess reached out and grabbed her arm.

"April, he's right. You know Uncle Luke, if you're in there while the nurse checks him out, he'll tell her everything is fine. We need to know what's really going on with him," Jess explained.

Christopher was pretty sure Jess had no idea that he wanted to give Luke and Lorelai a few minutes, but he was grateful for the help, and the kid did have a valid point. "Okay, then I'll go with you to find the nurse," April insisted.

"Of course," he replied. She spun on her heel and headed towards the nurses station and he followed right behind her.

"Dad, is Luke okay?" Rory asked, falling in step beside him so he wouldn't have to stop and answer.

"I don't know kid. He seems like himself to me," he answered. "But then again, I was only in there for a minute, I don't know what he remembers or anything like that."

She nodded and backed off, retreating towards Logan instead of continuing to follow him. He heard Logan's voice softly behind him reassuring his daughter, "he'll be okay Ace." The situation was miserable, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly at the thought of his daughter getting a chance to sort things out with Logan. He always liked Logan, he reminded him of himself at that age, no wonder Lorelai hated him.

He was snapped back into the present situation when he heard April addressing the nurse, "Yes, my dad just woke up."

"Who's your dad honey?" the nurse asked kindly.

Christopher spoke up from behind her, "Luke Danes in room 624."

"I'll page the doctor," the nurse said as she grabbed Luke's chart and headed down the hall they had just come up, with April and Chris right behind her. "What did he say when he woke up?" she asked.

"He asked what the hell I was doing there," Christopher admitted, rather ashamed of the situation. April scowled at him, no doubt bothered by the fact that he upset her father.

"And you are?" she asked, trying to piece together the situation.

"My ex is Luke's…" he trailed off not knowing how to accurately explain the situation. "She's in there with him now."

"You two stay out here, and I'll come get you in a few minutes," the nurse told them as they reached the door.

"But…" April began to protest. The nurse opened the door, slid into the room, and swiftly shut the door behind her.

"What's going on?" Rory asked.

"The nurse called the doctor and then went in to check on Luke. She's going to let us know when it's okay to come in," Christopher shared.

"I still don't see why I can't be in there," April stated. "If nothing else it would be a great lesson in science."

"Even if it would a great lesson in silence, I think that falls into the whole doctors can't treat their own family members realm," Rory told her. "Jess was right earlier. Your dad is easily embarrassed, and we wouldn't want him to not tell the doctor something because he didn't want you to know about it."

"Fine!" April exclaimed. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared down at the floor.

The door to Luke's room opened, and Lorelai came out, slamming the door behind her. "That nurse kicked me out!"

This caused Jess to snicker and Rory to shoot him a dirty look.

"Why'd they kick you out Mom?" Rory asked.

"I don't know, something about getting better answers if Luke were alone," she spat bitterly.

"I'm sorry Mom," Rory replied.

Christopher stood back and observed the scene, contemplating what his purpose was now.

"Earth to Christopher," Lorelai called to him.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I was just wondering-" she started, but was cut off by the nurse opening the door to Luke's room.

"The family can go in now," the nurse informed them.

April dashed towards the door quickly, with Jess on her heels. Lorelai headed towards the door, "Come on Kid," she called to Rory.

"But…" Rory began to protest.

"We're close enough to family, let's go."

Rory followed Lorelai into the room, leaving Logan and Christopher in the hallway.

"So, Logan," Christopher started, "How's California?"

"It's good Sir," Logan told him.

"It's Christopher, or Chris, please," Chris told him. "Are you enjoying being away from your old man?"

"Definitely," Logan answered.

"So, about my daughter…" Chris hinted.

"I love her. I'm trying my best to win her back," Logan admitted honestly.

"Don't hurt her."

"I'll never hurt her intentionally," Logan told him.

"Well I suppose that's good enough," Christopher told him with a smile. So this is what it's like to do the protective dad thing, he thought.

"So, what about you and Lorelai?" Logan asked.

He was a little taken aback, he didn't realize he was so obvious. "I love her. I'm trying my best to win her back," he used Logan's words finding he couldn't come up with better ones of his own to describe the situation.

"Cool. Good luck with that man."

"And to you as well. Gilmore Girls are hard to catch, and harder to keep, but if you can make it work, it's the best thing in the world," Christopher said wistfully. The two stood silently together for a moment, not quite sure what to do next. The silence was finally broken by the ringing of a phone. Both men reached for their pockets, Christopher being the winner. "Hello?" he answered.

"Mr. Hayden, it's Molly," his housekeeper told him.

"What's going on," he asked.

"I just had to pick Gigi up from school early, apparently she's got a touch of the flu. She's asking for you, and I just wanted to let you know," she explained.

"Thank you. I'm about an hour and half away, but I'll leave right now," he said. He knew how Gigi was when she was sick, and he knew Molly probably couldn't handle it. Most of the time Gigi was well behaved, but when she was sick, she turned back into a little monster that didn't understand the word no.

"All right, I'll tell her," Molly replied. He hung up the phone and looked up at Logan, who was looking at him with concern.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Just a small problem at home. I've got to go though. Could you tell Rory and Lorelai as much? Tell them to call me if they need anything," Christopher said.

"Of course. Good luck." Logan stuck out his hand to shake Christopher's.

"Good luck to you too!" Christopher repeated as he shook the young mans hand, hopeful for the first time in a while, that his daughter would find happiness again soon.

* * *

He spent the return drive to Boston lost in thought, wondering if Lorelai would call him. He knew that Logan would pass along the message; they were kindred spirits, each seeking their lost Gilmore Girl. He had no clue if Lorelai would still need or want him around now that Luke was awake. The ball was in her court, so to speak, and he would just have to wait it out.

* * *

He pulled his car into the garage and raced into the house. He wanted to make sure Gigi was okay, but he also wanted to relieve Molly as quickly as possible, it was hard to find good help, and he didn't have time to look for a replacement at the moment.

"How is she?" he asked as soon as he found Molly, who was looking a little worse for the wear.

"She's asleep. Finally. I thought she was going to scream herself hoarse!" Molly told him.

"She gets like that when she's sick. I'm sorry about that," he apologized. "I can handle it from here if you'd like to head home."

"Thanks," she told him heading for the door. "Do you need me to come in tomorrow?"

"Let's see how G's doing, I'll call you in the morning. If she's feeling better, probably yes, if not, then I'll just take care of her." He watched as small look of relief crossed the girl's face.

He flipped the lock on the door behind Molly as she left, then headed to Gigi's room to check on her.

She was asleep in her bed, covers flung off her, pajama pants pushed up to her knees, blonde curls everywhere. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. She was slightly feverish.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Hi honey, I'm here," he answered.

"I don't feel good," she whined.

"I know. I'm sorry baby," he soothed. "Can I get you some 7Up?"

"Okay."

He left to get some soda for her, and returned with that and a few of her favorite books. "Can you sit up a little to drink this?" he asked.

She nodded and struggled into a sitting position. "Will you read to me?" she asked.

"That's why I brought the books silly. Which one do you want first?" he asked.

"Alexander!" she told him adamantly.

"Okay. _Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day_, by Judith Voirst," he started. "_I went to bed with gum in my mouth and woke up with gum in my hair._" Gigi smiled a little, and Christopher continued to read the story to her. "_Even in Australia._ The End," he whispered the last sentence as Gigi had fallen back asleep. He took the soda from her, and laid her back down on the bed, pulling the covers up over her.

* * *

He dropped the soda glass off in the kitchen, and wandered aimlessly around his house, wondering what he should do with his extra time. He finally decided that he would pull his laptop into the living room so he could hear Gigi if she woke, and got to work trying to catch up on things he'd missed the last two days by visiting Lorelai in the hospital. An hour later he was deeply engrossed in a budget review and his cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered without bothering to check the caller id.

"You just disappeared!" Lorelai scolded.

"Well hello to you to," he said with a smile.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yes, pretty much," he responded.

"So what happened? One minute you're in the hall, and the next you're gone."

"Didn't Logan tell you that something came up and I had to go?" he asked, hoping he hadn't underestimated the guy.

"Sure. But why would I listen to anything that guy says, and he didn't have any details at all, and was therefore of no use to me," she informed him quickly.

"You should give Logan a break, he's a pretty good guy," Christopher told her.

"Of course you would like him, he's just like you!" she exclaimed annoyed.

"Maybe that's why you don't like him. Maybe you should give him a chance to make his own mistakes, and not impose my mistakes on him. Did you ever think of that?" he shot back.

"Maybe you're right," she said evasively. "I'll take that under consideration."

"Thank you," he replied.

"Now, why did you leave so quickly?" she changed the subject.

"Gigi's got the flu, and when she's miserable she likes to make everyone else miserable. It was self-preservation. If she makes Molly miserable I'll have to find a new housekeeper, and that's a lot of work that I don't want to do," he explained.

"Oh, poor kid. I understand why you left. I hope she feels better soon. Give her a kiss for me."

"So how's Luke?" he asked hesitantly.

"Awake and angry," she said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure my being there didn't help."

"You said it, I didn't. But that's not the bulk of it," she started.

"Oh?" he said, hoping she'd continue.

"He's pissed that I told Anna and April about his condition. Apparently I should have waited more than a few hours to alert his daughter to his situation."

"Wow. Well I guess everyone's different. If it were you in the coma, I wouldn't have even waited an hour to call Rory."

"I know! That's exactly what I thought! I did what I would want done if it was me in that position, and apparently I was wrong."

"I'm sure you two will work it out," he said knowing that's what he should say.

"I'm not so sure Chris. I've known the guy for a decade and I still sometimes feel like I don't know a thing about him," she said softly. "Everything I do seems to come out wrong." He could hear her start to cry on the other end of the phone.

"Don't cry Lore. It'll all work out. I promise," he reassured her.

"Thanks Chris," she said with a sniffle.

He heard Gigi in the background calling for him. "G just woke up. I've got to go," he told her.

"Alright, bye."

"Lore," he started, hoping to catch her before she hung up.

"Yeah?"

"If you need anything, you can call me any time," he said.

"I probably shouldn't, but thanks."

"Well, bye."

"Bye."

He hung up the phone and headed towards Gigi's room completely unsure of what was to come.

* * *

Christopher Hayden was sure of only one thing, he loved Lorelai Gilmore, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it. The ball was in her court and he hoped to hell that she did something, anything, with it soon.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger hated not knowing where he stood. And for the last few weeks, he felt like he had been standing in the middle of no mans land, waiting for a flare, telling him which direction he should head in. As he paced the hall waiting for everyone else to return from Luke's room he pondered the conversation he'd just had with Rory's father. For a moment it gave him hope, he finally had someone, other than his friends, in his camp. But just as quickly as the hope arrived, it fled. Christopher was a cool guy and all, but he and Rory hardly had a relationship. He sighed aloud. The only person it would help to have in his corner was Lorelai, and he knew, barring a miracle, that it would never happen. He had his suspicions about Lorelai's role in their untimely demise, but he thought it best to keep them to himself. For now he would continue his current pattern of guess and check, and hope that it would be enough in the end.

He heard a door open and turned around to see Lorelai coming out of Luke's room. Alone.

"Where's Christopher?" she asked him without addressing him.

"Uhm, something came up at home and he had to go. He said if you or Rory needed anything to call him," Logan relayed. He watched as she frowned slightly at this information.

"What came up?" she asked.

"I don't know Lorelai. His got a phone call and he left. I only heard his side of the conversation," he said trying not to be rude, and let her know that even if he knew more he wouldn't share it out of respect for Christopher. At this moment he really wasn't sure what the man saw in the elder Gilmore Girl, but he could sense that she felt something for him too.

"Okay," she said shortly as she sat down on the bench.

"So, about Christopher," he started feeling bold. She shot him a look that made him lose all of his courage and silenced him completely. A minute later he started again, this time on a completely different track, "how's Luke?"

"Angry as, as, some metaphor that I can't quite form right now," she told him.

"Okay," he nodded. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so. Rory would be a better person to ask, she was taking notes on what the doctor was saying."

Silence overtook them again, and he tried to think of some kind of conversation to make, or some way out of this situation. "I'm going to go get a cup of coffee, do you want me to bring you one?" he finally asked.

"Sure. Better bring refills all around," she told him.

"I know how Rory takes hers, Jess takes his black, what about you and April?" he asked politely.

"Herbal tea for April, and cream two sugars for me," she answered.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few then." He turned and started down the hall towards the elevator.

"Logan," Lorelai called after him.

"Yeah?" He didn't turn around, but he looked over his shoulder.

"Thank you."

He merely nodded and continued on his way. Did Lorelai Gilmore just thank me? I must be hearing things, maybe I should get my ears checked when I get back to California, he thought.

* * *

He gave the girl at Starbucks a big tip, and asked one of the other baristas for an extra cup to cover the name and phone number had been jotted on the side of his latte. When he returned to the hospital he found everyone in the hall again, apparently the doctor was giving Luke a closer examination, and Luke demanded that everyone leave the room. He passed out the beverages to a chorus of 'Thank you!' Okay, it was thank you from Rory and April, a nod from Lorelai and a grunt from Jess, but he took them all to mean thanks.

He sidled up to Rory and she smiled at him. "So what's Luke's prognosis?" he asked.

"I'm not completely sure yet. There doesn't seem to be any long term brain damage, he remembers everything up to and including the accident," she lowered her voice, "much to my mother's dismay."

He looked at her curiously, hoping she would explain without him having to ask.

"Mom and Luke were fighting when the accident occurred. About my dad. Well kind of," she told him in a hushed whisper.

"Kind of?" he asked equally quietly.

"I'll explain it to you later," she glanced meaningfully at her mom and April, and he understood. "Anyhow, the doctor is checking him over for other possible physical effects from the coma, and then we'll know more," she finished in her normal voice.

"So," he started, "how much longer are you planning to stay?" He wanted to stay with her, but he knew she had to get back to work, as did he.

"I don't know, a couple of days I guess. Luke will be here for at least that long, and I want to help my mom get stuff set up for him at home."

"I can't-"

"I know you can't stay that long Logan, I don't expect you to," her voice was rather sharp though, and he hoped she might secretly want him to stay. The trip to the hotel earlier had gone well, they got along the whole time, and he even made her smile and laugh a little, but they hadn't discussed anything deeper than which store they should have a new clothes delivered from as he wasn't given time to pack, and her mother had taken her suitcase to her grandparents house.

"Rory, it's not that I don't want to," he said softly.

She looked up at him, and sighed. "I know."

"Plus, I feel like I'm in the way here. Now that Luke's awake, things will get a lot easier."

"You're right," she told him. "So do you have your return flight booked yet?"

"I flew McCrea air to get here, I intend on flying McCrea air back. He dragged me out here, he can send me back." He caught the brief glimmer of hurt in her eyes and quickly added, "Not that I wouldn't have come on my own had I known."

"Let me know when you're leaving and maybe we can have dinner before you go," she said. He looked up at that moment to see Lorelai sitting on the bench behind them grimacing at her daughter's statement. Yep, Lorelai was definitely NOT team Logan.

"Of course," he reassured her. "But for now, I guess I'm going to back to the hotel and get some work done. Call me if you need anything." She nodded and he looked around at everyone else. "April, it was nice to meet you, Jess, Lorelai, it was… I'm sure I'll see you again before I leave."

"Bye Logan," April called cheerily. The other two just stared after him with looks that said 'Good riddance to bad rubbish.' He sighed and reminded himself again that he was here for Rory, not for them.

"Bye Logan," she said, giving him a quick squeeze.

* * *

He decided a cab would be quicker than waiting for the car service, and climbed into the first available one that stopped at the hospital. He instructed the driver as to which hotel to take him to, then dialed Colin to find out how quickly he could get back to California. As he waited for Colin to pick up he thought back over the last portion of his life. Were he still working at HPG he wouldn't hesitate to stay until Rory headed back to the campaign trail, but now he had to go back to work. Sometimes he hated being 'Responsible Logan' but if he wanted a chance to be successful with Rory if he ever won her back, she needed to know how he really was now, and that included the workaholic tendencies.

"Hey Logan," Colin answered on the fourth ring.

"Hey. So when's the next departure time for McCrea air?" he asked.

"She send you packing already?" Colin asked worried for his friend.

"No. But since Luke is awake and she doesn't need me anymore I've got to get back to work."

"Who are you and what did you do with _my _friend Logan?" Colin asked in an accusatory tone.

"He grew up. Luke's out of danger, and I need to get back to work. You got me here, you get me home," he said slightly snarkily. He figured Colin would be the one person to understand him; he was putting in crazy hours at his dad's firm, and knew what lay ahead for him as a lawyer.

"Fine. I think one of the planes is coming in to Hartford tonight. I'll arrange for you to fly back out tomorrow morning. Is that soon enough?" Colin snipped back.

"Yes. Thank you Colin," Logan said gratefully.

"Any chance you'll have time for Finn and me before you go?" he asked hopefully.

"I told Rory I'd have dinner with her before I left, but how about after dinner drinks?" he suggested.

"Sure. Wait, Gilmore wants to have dinner with you?"

"Yeah."

"That's great man! Just let me know when and where for drinks and I'll round up Finn."

"Will do. Later," Logan said hanging up the phone before Colin had a chance to say anything else.

* * *

The car arrived at the hotel, he paid the cabbie, and he went inside to inform the staff that he'd be checking out in the morning.

When he reached his room he called his assistant to let her know when he'd be returning, and sat down to check his email. Logan was only a few emails in, when he realized he needed to let Rory know when he was leaving. He dialed her number from memory and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" she answered on the second ring.

"Hey Rory, it's Logan," he said formally, not wanting to assume she would recognize his voice.

"I know."

"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving in the morning. If you still want to have dinner it'll have to be tonight," he informed her.

"Uhm," she hesitated, "tonight will work."

"Great. Where do you want to go?" he asked brightly.

"There's a little French café around the corner from the hospital, let's meet there at 6:00," she suggested.

"That sounds fine. I'll see you there," he said. He hung up the phone and tried to get his brain back into a work mode so he could get something done before dinner, and not try to do it drunk after hanging out with Colin and Finn.

* * *

He arrived at the restaurant with five minutes to spare, but Rory was already inside, waiting for him.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey." He smiled at her.

With a generous tip the hostess led them to a private booth in the back of the restaurant. They sat in a familiar silence trying to decide what to order.

"Can I get you something to drink?" the waiter asked when he arrived.

"Can I get a scotch on the rocks?" Logan asked. "Ace, you want a martini?"

"I'll have a Grey Goose and tonic," she told him.

"Very good, do you two need another minute with the menu or would you like to order?" the waiter asked.

"If you're ready Rory go ahead and order for both of us," Logan told her. He was trying to ensure that they both got things that she wanted to eat, but the slight glare she shot him made him wonder if he'd screwed up.

She ordered for both of them, and the waiter went to the kitchen to put in the order.

"So what was the glare for?" he asked. "I was just trying to be nice and make sure you got a variety. I know you'll eat half of mine anyhow, you may as well enjoy it," he teased her.

"I appreciate that Logan, but that menu is huge! Too many choices," she explained with a smile.

They fell into random chatter until their drinks arrived, at which point, she took what appeared to be a bracing sip of her drink and looked him in the eye. "What do you mean you'll come to my grandparents party if I want you to?"

He sighed, he could tell she'd been fixating on it for a while now. "I miss you Rory. I miss us. I want us back. But I also respect you and your decisions. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

They sat in silence as she processed this. The food was served and they began to eat still in silence. A few minutes in Logan finally spoke. "Rory, say something, please."

"This chicken is really good," she replied with a smile.

"I'm glad, so is my steak, but that wasn't what I was talking about and you know it."

"Logan, look, I love you." He wanted to smile, but he sensed a 'but' coming, "But I don't know what I want yet. I'm not sure about anything right now."

"Geez, it's not like I'm asking you to marry again Rory," he grumbled.

"You want what you want when you want it. You always have. It's not fair to me Logan," she told him angrily.

"Do you even see a place for me in your life at all?" he asked bitterly.

"I don't know. I hope so, but I honestly have no clue."

He stood up from the table and pulled his money clip from his pocket. He threw several bills on the table and looked down at Rory who was still seated. "So I take it you want me to RSVP 'No' to your grandparents anniversary party," he stated.

"God! Why can't you understand me? I'm not saying no Logan, I'm saying I need more time," she said heatedly. "Yes. I want you to RSVP 'Yes' to the party."

"Okay Rory. I'm going to go now, before either of us says anything else we'll regret. Call me when you figure things out, or if you just want talk about them," he said, his temper calming by the minute.

"That's probably for the best," she agreed. "Thank you for everything Logan. I'll see you in a little over a month for the anniversary party." She stood up to hug him goodbye.

"Bye Ace," he said. "And for what it's worth, I do love you."

He could feel her smile against his chest. "I know you do Huntzberger. Now go have fun with Colin and Finn," she instructed. "I'm going to enjoy the rest of my chicken, and some of your steak."

He walked out of the restaurant and dialed Colin. He seriously needed to get drunk and forget about life for a while.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger was sure of only one thing, he loved Rory Gilmore, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it. The ball was in her court and he hoped to hell that she did something, anything, with it soon.

* * *

**AN: Happy New Year! I hope 2010 is a great year for everyone. I thought I'd start the new year off with a new chapter, hopefully I'll be able to update more this year… but we'll see.**

**Standard disclaimers: I don't own Gilmore Girls. I also don't own Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – However, it is my favorite children's book ever… the quotes were from memory though so don't sue me if they're wrong.**

**Also - if you're curious as to the punishment for breaking a pinky promise, there's a tiny little one shot between Rory and Lorelai that I did that explains (and I do mean tiny, like less than 500 words) it's called Pinky Promises. **

**As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback!**

**S**


	11. Chapter 11 Waiting

"_Come on Logan! Don't you want to kiss me?" Rory asked him. He leaned in to kiss her and she backed away. "Gotta catch me first, Huntz," she teased as she backed further away. He chased after her, but no matter how fast he ran she was faster. Soon she was so far away he couldn't see the features of her face anymore. _

"_RORY!" he called out to her. _

He bolted upright in his bed, his heart was racing and his breathing labored; it was just a dream. The same dream, or a variation of it, that he'd had every night for the last week. He looked over at the clock on his nightstand, 3:30 in the morning – too early to get up, too late to take something to help him sleep. He sighed deeply and laid back down on the bed. He sat up again, and adjusted his pillows and realigned his top sheet with the down comforter, then he pulled the covers up to his chest and flopped back down.

Ten minutes later he was still laying there, staring at his ceiling. He'd been back in California for a week. He hadn't heard a word from her. He learned from Finn that Luke was out of the hospital and settled in at Lorelai's house in Stars Hollow, he learned from Stephanie that Rory only stayed another few days in Connecticut, and he learned from the internet that she was back on the campaign trail. Her absence was explained in a brief paragraph on her blog citing a family emergency. He didn't really expect to hear from her, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself from being disappointed. The best he could do was cling to the last line in the paragraph about the emergency. _I want to thank __all__ of my friends for all of their help and support, and let them know that everything is going to be okay eventually. _ He assumed the reason she underlined the word 'all' was to let him know that he was included amongst her friends, at least that was what he told himself. He sighed and rolled over onto his stomach – this forced him to close his eyes – and then began to count sheep.

Four hundred and thirty seven sheep later he got out of bed. The sheep weren't helping. He padded into his office and opened his laptop. He opened his email and went straight to the drafts folder.

He was trying to give Rory her time and space, so he refused to contact her. Instead he'd started a running email. Every time he thought of something he wanted to tell her, or something happened that reminded him of her, or he just felt like talking to her, he added it to the email.

_July 22- 4:03 AM  
This counting sheep thing is crap. I think the only reason it would ever work would be that it bored the counter to sleep. Unfortunately I am not bored to the point of sleep easily. Too many years of Mitchum yelling at me for falling asleep in meetings I guess. (Since I know you'll ask, I got all the way to 437 before I gave up and got out of bed). I had the dream again. (Scroll up a few days, you'll find it). God Rory, I just miss you so much. I know if you were here you'd wake up with me and talk to me until I fell back asleep. But then if you were here I bet I wouldn't be having this damn dream to begin with…_

_Anyway. How's Luke? Finn told me that he's home with Lorelai, but I bet you have more information on the situation than that. I know things were difficult with your mom and Luke when the accident occurred, and Luke doesn't seem the type to just let something go, even for just a little while… I bet tensions are high in that house. Maybe it's a good thing we're both out of the state of Connecticut for while. (Yes, I know you probably won't be reading this for quite some time… but I still wanted you to know that I'm thinking about your family. Family has always been a big deal to you – and somehow that's rubbed off on me – at least in regards to YOUR family). _

_Well, since the gym I go to opens at 5 it's officially late enough for me to start being productive… (stop laughing Ace!) _

_Love, Logan _

He clicked the save button, updating the file, and then closed the lid to the laptop. He stood up and returned to his bedroom to throw on some clothes for the gym, and headed out the door.

* * *

Logan liked the gym first thing in the morning. It was when the people that actually wanted to work out were there. He tried coming after work, but everyone at the gym that time of night was more interested in having other people see them, and seeing other people, then actually working out. And Logan needed to work out.

He first realized this the week after Colin, Finn, Stephanie and Honor visited; his pants were a little snug. He hadn't gained a lot of weight, but all the nights of eating take out and drinking to excess, without any exercise to counteract it, had gone to his waist.

Now Logan wasn't normally one who worked out in a traditional sense. His preferred method of burning calories was sex. But right now, that was off the table. At Yale, between Rory (and the sex), and constantly being on the go, for Mitchum, for the Life and Death Brigade, or corralling Finn, he'd never had a problem surviving on take out and copious quantities of liquor and still maintaining his weight. Here in California however, all he did was sit. He sat in his office, he sat in his car, and he sat in his apartment. He needed to do something.

One night a few weeks back he decided to take a drive through his neighborhood. That was when he'd spotted the gym. It wasn't one of those ultra fancy 24-hour places, but it was open from 5 am to Midnight, and it had all of the things he wanted. Basketball courts, racquetball courts, weights and treadmills, it even had a pool and a hot tub if he ever felt so inclined. The membership office was having a promotion when he signed up, and he got a yearlong membership for the price of 6 months. He'd been coming every day he'd been in town since.

He pushed the door open and scanned his tag.

"Good morning Mr. Huntzberger," one of the trainers said from behind the counter.

Logan merely nodded and went to the locker room. He stuffed his wallet, watch and keys into a small locker, grabbed his iPod and headed out to the main area. He took the treadmill on the end and hoped no one would take the one next to him. He didn't want to have to make conversation at 5 am.

He was jogging along, listening to The All-American Rejects, when he heard a voice next to him. He couldn't make out the words, but he had a feeling they were meant for him. He ignored them hoping they'd go away.

"Hey," the voice said louder.

Logan turned up the volume on his headphones, and cranked up the speed on the treadmill. He then turned to look at who was talking to him. Yet another blue-eyed brunette had found him. What was it with these girls? Was there a 'likes and dislikes' page out there on the internet for him? _Huntzberger, Logan, Age: 25, Status: Potentially available. Likes: Blue-eyed brunettes. Dislikes: None really, but you might have better luck if you fit into the likes category. _"Sorry," he huffed at the accelerated speed. He pointed to his earbuds and just kept running. A look of disappointment crossed the girl's face, but instead of leaving, she put in her own headphones and started to run along with him.

The problem with running on a treadmill was that it was stationary. His body didn't wander, so his mind did instead. He thought of going to the Vineyard with Rory, and their trips to the gym there. He'd play basketball with the locals, but he wasn't really sure what she'd do. He assumed since she never broke a sweat, that she people watched and drank cucumber water, but he never knew for sure. He felt the treadmill slowing down beneath him, and looked down to find that his 30-minute run was up. He wiped off the machine with his towel in accordance with proper gym etiquette, and walked over to the drinking fountain.

The girl from the treadmill next to him followed suit. "Hey," she said again when he stood up from the fountain. "I'm Stacy."

He really wanted to say 'I'm busy,' but his society training was far too ingrained to allow that. "I'm Logan," he said instead.

"Do you think you could spot me on the bench press?" she asked as she batted her eyelashes.

"Sorry, I uh," he stalled trying to think of an excuse. Should he say he had to leave? Or that he was waiting to play racquetball? Or… "I'm biking next this morning. Training for a triathlon." Where the heck did that come from he wondered.

"Oh, okay," she said with a chipper smile. "Maybe next time. It was nice to meet you Logan."

"You too," he said as he made his way to the exercise bikes. He hated bikes, unless they were motorcycles. Stationary bikes were the worst form of torture he could imagine. No matter how hard you worked you didn't go anywhere, and the seats were painful after two minutes. He looked up to find the brunette still watching him. Dammit, that meant he had to ride the stupid bike, at least for a little while. He climbed on the bike and set the timer for 10 minutes. He could do anything for ten minutes.

Ten minutes later his ass was sore and he gratefully climbed off the bike. Before the brunette could find him again he darted into the locker room to collect his stuff. Then he headed straight out the door. He needed to get home and shower before heading to work.

* * *

Logan sat down at his computer as he toweled his hair dry. He opened his email once again, went straight to his drafts folder.

_July 22 – 6:43 AM  
What __did__ you do all those times we went to the gym in Martha's Vineyard? - L_

He saved again, and shut down his computer. He got up and went back to the bathroom to artfully style his hair for the day.

* * *

The office was busy enough to keep Logan focused on work all day. He'd gotten a little behind with his impromptu trip to Connecticut last week, but he was almost all caught up now. He heard a knock at his door which made his head pop up. "Come in," he called.

"Hey Huntz," his partner Jacob said from the door. "You want to get dinner with Michael and I tonight?" Michael was the third partner in the business.

"Is there a problem?" Logan asked, his voice filled with concern.

"No, none at all. I just thought it might be nice if the three of us could catch up."

"Sure, that'd be fine I guess," Logan told him.

"Great, we'll leave in about an hour," Jacob said as he backed out of the door.

Logan looked at his watch, surprised to find it was 4:30 already. He logged into his personal email account to check his mail, hoping for something from Rory. Instead he found something from Finn. He clicked on the message.

_To: Huntz  
From: Finn  
Re: Don't shoot the messenger  
Hey Mate,  
Just got off the phone with RG, she says to tell you 'Don't forget, I'm still working on it.' Care to tell Finny just what that means? I asked her, feeling, as the messenger boy, I should at least get to understand the message, but she just told me to ask you. So, will you tell me?  
Also, I'm thinking we should visit you again before summer is over. Finn needs to go to the beach and Colin, well he just needs a little time to remove the stick from his arse.  
-Finn_

Logan smiled as he read Finn's message. First, Rory was thinking about him. Him and their situation even! Second, she'd been bold enough to go through Finn, and everyone knew Finn couldn't keep a secret. And third, his friends wanted to visit him again, and with proper planning he could actually enjoy their trip this time. He hit the reply button and dashed of a quick message to Finn telling him that he wouldn't decode Rory's message and that they should totally plan a visit. Then he went back to his drafts folder.

_July 22 – 4:52 PM  
Got your message via Finn, glad to know you're thinking about me. And us. I hope you find an answer soon. I'm about to head off to a boring business dinner, and I really wish you were here as an excuse not to go. Or at least maybe if you were here I could drag you along and it wouldn't be so boring. _

Logan stared at the screen for a while, trying to decide if he wanted to add anything else to the Rory List before closing it again. He must have gotten lost in thought, because he didn't notice the time passing until he heard Jacob and Michael in the doorway.

"You ready to go Logan?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," he said as he looked up. "Give me two seconds to save this and shut down my computer and I'll be right out."

His partners nodded and began making conversation amongst themselves. He saved the draft, shut down his computer, and stood up to pull his suit jacket on. "Alright, lets go get some sushi!" he said. He gave one last lingering glance to his computer, and silently hoped that Rory would get it figured out soon.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger hated to wait. He knew the ball was no longer in his court, and all he could do was wait, but he really hoped that Rory didn't make him wait too long.

* * *

Christopher Hayden laid in bed staring at his ceiling. It was almost 6:00 am and his alarm was due to go off any minute. It had been a week since Luke was checked out of the hospital and Rory headed back to the campaign trail. Christopher hadn't heard a word from Lorelai since the day Luke woke up. He knew from Rory that Lorelai was taking Luke to her house to take care of him, at least for a few days. The broken arm wasn't hard to manage alone, but with the head trauma the doctor apparently wanted someone close by just in case. Rory said that April was staying in town, but a teenager wasn't considered responsible enough to be a caretaker. He wondered how Lorelai was managing the intrusion, and if this was going to be the event that finally got Luke over his aversion to Lorelai and April spending time together.

'_I lost myself in a familiar song, I closed my eyes and I slipped away…' _The radio came blaring on in the middle of a song. He usually loved this song, but this morning it was just too painful. He reached over and slapped the off button on the clock and climbed out of bed.

He padded into the master bathroom and turned on the shower. He examined himself in the mirror while the water heated up. His eyes were bloodshot, not from drinking, but from lack of sleep. He'd spent every night since he last talked to Lorelai tossing and turning in his bed. Wondering if the last time they spoke would be the last time they ever spoke. He knew Lorelai needed to figure this whole mess out on her own, but he couldn't help wanting to point her in his direction.

Assuming his shower was finally hot, he abandoned the mirror and climbed into the shower. Twenty minutes later he was feeling as refreshed as he was going to get, as he stepped out of the shower to go get dressed. After he was dressed, well shirt and pants, the jacket and tie would wait until he was on his way out the door, he went to go wake Gigi.

"Gigi, honey, it's time to get up," he told her as he slightly shook her tiny arm.

"Ungh," she groaned softly and pulled at her covers.

"You remember what you're doing today?" he asked.

The five year olds eyes popped open. "Summer camp!" she said, suddenly wide awake.

"That's right!" Gigi flung herself out of bed and headed towards the clothes that Molly had laid out for her the day before. Christopher smiled as he watched her, she was so excited to go to day camp. He wondered if all kids loved camp.

_Summer 1976_

"_Christopher, hurry up!" his mother called. "We have to go pick up Lorelai! You don't want to be late for camp do you?"_

_He raced down the hall in his shorts, tennis shoes, and Camp Woodbridge tee shirt. "I'm ready!" he yelled. He tucked his pocketknife into his pocket and hoped his mother wouldn't find it. She would completely freak out if she found a pocketknife, he could almost hear the lecture in his head. _

"_No running in the house!" Francine told him. He slowed to a walk, and headed towards the garage to climb into the car. He waited a full minute before his mother finally climbed in a started the engine. The ride to the Gilmore's was completely silent until they pulled into the driveway. "You can go get Lorelai," his mother told him as if she was doing him a favor. _

_He jumped out of the car and ran to the front door, eagerly ringing the bell three times in quick succession. _

"_I'm coming, I'm coming." He could hear Mrs. Gilmore as she approached. "Lorelai, the Hayden's are here to take you to camp." _

"_Good morning Mrs. Gilmore," Christopher said politely when she opened the door. Lorelai came out of nowhere screeching to a halt beside him. _

"_Bye Mom!" she said. She was also in shorts and tennis shoes, but her Camp Woodbridge shirt was pink instead of blue like his._

"_Be good today, Lorelai," her mother warned. "I'll see you kids at 4:30 to pick you up." They both nodded at her. _

"_What do you think we'll do today?" Lorelai asked him on their walk to the car. _

"_I don't know, but I hope it's something cool!" he said in return. _

"_Anything's better than here," Lorelai told him with a smile._

"_No shit, Sherlock," he retorted with a grin of his own. _

"_I'm telling," she threatened and then dashed towards the car. _

"_Lore…" he whined as he chased her. _

"I'm all ready Daddy!" Gigi told him, bringing him back to the present.

"Alright then, lets go down stairs and get some breakfast!" As Gigi raced towards the kitchen he thought about summer camp again. He couldn't remember any special activity they'd done, all he could remember was how much he loved getting away from his Mom during the summer. Things were different for him, and Lorelai, both of them grew up with mothers that didn't work. Even with all the charity functions they still were around far too often. He hoped Gigi wasn't as excited to be away from him as he had been to be away from his mother.

* * *

He dropped Gigi off at camp reminding her that Molly would pick her up, then headed off to work.

For the past few days focusing at work had been all but impossible. He couldn't get Lorelai out of his head. He was tempted to call her just to have some sense of… closure, or… hope, or… anything. He picked up his cell phone and began to scroll through his phone book, he got halfway down the list when an incoming call disrupted his progress.

"Hey Kid," he answered, knowing it was Rory.

"Hey Dad."

"Where are you today?" he asked.

"Uhh… Pennsylvania I think," she told him.

"Cool!" he said. "Did you like summer camp as a kid?"

"That's kind of random."

"Sorry, I just dropped Gigi off at camp this morning and she was so excited. Since I wasn't there to take you to camp as a kid, I just wondered if you were excited for it too," he explained.

"I never went to camp as a kid, Mom couldn't afford to send me," she responded quietly.

"Crap, I'm sorry Ror," he apologized, knowing that it was most likely his fault that she missed out on camp.

"Don't be Dad. Mom and I had a great time during summer. She told me the best part of summer camp was the campfire, so we made s'mores for dessert all summer long."

"Leave it to your mother to only remember the food," Christopher said with a laugh.

"She remembered more than the food. Something about you and a water balloon fight, sports, and making cheesy crafts. But the only part she liked enough to make me repeat were the s'mores." He could hear that she had a smile in her voice.

"So, how is your mom?" he asked, wondering if she'd answer him.

"Luke gets to go back to his own place today, so I think she's feeling a little relieved," Rory told him tentatively.

"Oh?" Christopher said encouraging her to continue.

"Well, Luke isn't exactly the type to let anyone take care of him. And then to have April there too, trying to take care of Luke, I think she just feels a little out of place. Which is hard in your own house, you know?"

"Of course."

"So she hasn't called you?" Rory asked.

"No. I was thinking I'd-" he started, but Rory cut him off.

"Don't call her Dad. She's got to figure this one out on her own."

Christopher sighed, wondering when his daughter had figured out how he still felt about her mother, and knowing she was right. "So how are things going with Logan?" he asked attempting to change the subject.

"I'm working on it," she told him. "And Logan is giving me the time and space to do it," she added pointedly.

"I'm glad Kid."

"Dad," she started again.

"I know, Ror. It's just…" he trailed off trying to think of the right word.

"Hard?" she supplied.

"Exactly."

"If it wasn't hard, it wouldn't be love," she told him.

"When did you get so smart?" he asked in a teasing tone.

"Yale. You know, brick buildings, lots of books..."

"Astronomical tuition," he added.

"That's the place. Well, it looks the like the bus is stopping, so I've got to go."

"Alright. Thanks for calling Rory. I love you," he reminded her.

"I love you too Dad."

He smiled, flipped his phone shut, and set it down on his desk. He looked over at his computer screen and began to read the spreadsheet in front of him. He really needed to focus and get his head back in the game. A few seconds later his phone buzzed with a text message, _don't call Mom_ was all it said. _I got the message Kid_ he texted back, then turned his attention back to work.

* * *

Christopher some how managed to get through the rest of his day without thinking about Lorelai. He even managed to be productive and catch up on the work that he'd missed while he was in his Lorelai induced stupor the past week or so. It was 5:00, so he shut off his monitor and grabbed his jacket, eager to get home and see how Gigi's day at camp was.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he called to his assistant.

"Have a good night," she said in return.

He exited his office and started for his car, only to find some one leaned up against the car. From where he was, he couldn't tell who it was. He quickened his pace to reach his car faster.

"Hey stranger, I brought you a cup of coffee," Lorelai said. He stopped in his tracks to take in the picture. Lorelai in jeans and a tank top, leaned against his BMW, holding two cups of coffee. He blinked twice to make sure she was really there.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice cracking in surprise.

"Well it's nice to see you too," she said snidely. "If you don't want your coffee…" She raised the take out cup to her lips.

"No! I want the coffee," he said, reaching for the cup.

"Too bad. I was waiting for such a long time that I drank them both."

"No you didn't." She handed him both cups. One was empty, the other was almost empty. "You did! Then why the heck did you say you brought me coffee?"

"That was my original intention."

"So back to my original question, what are you doing here Lorelai?"

"Just thought I'd come by and say hi. Say thanks for all of your help last week." She shrugged.

He knew her better than that. Something else was going on. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said challenging him not to believe her.

"Okay. Well you're welcome I guess. Thanks for coming?" he said hesitantly.

She turned on her heel and headed back towards her Jeep.

"You drove an hour and a half just to say thank you?" he called after her.

"Yep!" she called back over her shoulder.

"Aren't you at least going to buy me a cup of coffee to make up for the one you bought me but drank yourself?"

She stopped and turned around. "I suppose," she said, like he twisted her arm. She started walking back towards his car.

He beeped the car unlocked, and they both climbed in. "So, where to?" he asked, knowing she would know exactly where to go for the good coffee.

"There's a little independent shop a couple blocks over, called Café Caffeine," she instructed.

"I know where it is," he said as he guided the car on to the busy streets.

"So how's Gigi?" she asked. He suspected she was trying to keep the topic of conversation off herself.

"She's great. Enjoying summer day camp this week," he answered.

"God I used to love summer camp," Lorelai told him reminiscently.

"Anything to get away from Emily and Francine for a while," Christopher chimed in.

"What was the name of that camp they used to send us to when we were little?" she asked.

"Camp Woodbridge."

"How do you remember that?"

"I was thinking about it this morning when Gigi was getting ready to go, and how much I loved summer camp."

"Remember the water balloon fights?" she asked him.

"I'm surprised they let us come back to camp after that first summer."

"I think our parents had to pay extra the second summer."

"Really?" he asked incredulously.

"Probably. We were little hellions," she reminded him. They both laughed at the memory.

He pulled the car into the café's parking lot and switched off the ignition. He turned in his seat and faced Lorelai.

"Why are you really here Lore?" he asked quietly and seriously.

"I don't know," she whispered back.

He sat back in his seat and began to wait for her answer.

* * *

Christopher Hayden hated to wait. He knew the ball was no longer in his court, and all he could do was wait, but he really hoped that Lorelai didn't make him wait too long.

* * *

**AN: Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I don't own Gilmore Girls, Matt Czuchry or David Sutcliffe. I do however own a copy of I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, which stars Matt Czuchry. **

**I also don't own Boston's More Than A Feeling (which is the song Christopher wakes up to). I completely made up Camp Woodbridge and any and all stories about Lorelai and Christopher going to camp as children. I also made up Café Caffeine, but don't you think that's a good name for a coffee shop? **

**Please read and review – I look forward to hearing what you all think! **

**Thanks for reading - S**


	12. Chapter 12 Out of the Blue

_Last time on __**Winning Back the Gilmore Girls**__:_

"_Why are you really here Lore?" he asked quietly and seriously._

"_I don't know," she whispered back._

_He sat back in his seat and began to wait for her answer. _

* * *

They'd been sitting in his car in silence for the last five minutes, him staring at her, refusing to be the one to break the silence, and her looking around the car desperately searching for an answer to his question.

"Just forget it," Lorelai finally said stubbornly. "Now do you want me to buy you that cup of coffee or not?"

Christopher had known Lorelai Gilmore long enough to know that she wouldn't talk until she was ready, and no amount of begging, bribing or bullying would speed up the process. "Sure," he acquiesced. "I could use a cup of coffee."

"Good, because even if you didn't want one I was going to make you wait while I went in and got one for myself," she said in her usual sassy manner.

"You know I would never deprive a Gilmore Girl of coffee."

"I know." She opened her door and stepped out of the car so quickly, Christopher didn't have time to question the telltale brightness he saw in her eyes.

He got out of the car and locked the doors, then followed her across the parking lot and into Café Caffeine.

The café was dimly lit, and surprising cool for the middle of summer. Lorelai had found her way to the end of the coffee line and Christopher joined her as he looked around for a private corner for them to enjoy their coffee in.

"What do you want to drink?" she asked.

"Just get me one of whatever looks good to you," he said, flattering her inner coffee snob. "Shall I go snag a table, or are we taking the drinks to go?"

She pulled her mobile from her pocket and checked the time, then pondered his question for a moment. "We can get a table," she finally agreed.

"I'll go find one." She nodded and he wandered off in the direction of the empty table that offered them the most privacy. While Lorelai didn't talk until she was ready, when she was ready it was all coming out whether the other person was ready for it or not.

He found recently vacated corner table with a pair of comfy chairs and settled himself into one of them. While he waited for Lorelai and the coffee he thought back on the first time he experienced her need to talk about things on her own time.

_October 1983_

_It was 8:00 am on a school day, and Christopher was putting his books into his locker when he felt a pair of cool soft hands slip over his eyes and a feminine body press into his back. _

"_Guess who," a familiar voice cooed in his ear._

"_Hey Lore," he said automatically, pulling her hands down and kissing the inside of her wrists. _

"_I'm not Lorelai," the voice said in a soft but irritated tone. _

_He spun around to see Sally-Ann Johnson staring at him with a hurt look in her eyes, and Lorelai standing 20 feet away from him in the other direction, having just witnessed the whole scene, but not being close enough to hear his words. _

_Before he could say anymore Lorelai spun on her heel and walked away. _

"_Lorelai! Wait!" he called as he started after her. _

"_Christopher!" Sally-Ann cooed, pulling on his arm. _

"_Not now Sally-Ann," he said harshly. He slammed his locker door and literally ran after Lorelai. _

_He finally caught up with her heading into the library. "Lorelai!" _

"_What?" she said coolly as she turned to look at him. _

"_About earlier," he started._

_She held up her hand, "I don't want to talk about it Christopher."_

"_But-"_

"_Not right now," she told him, then she turned and walked a few feet down the hall to enter the Ladies Room. Knowing he couldn't follow her, he sighed deeply and headed back to his locker, just in time to hear the bell ring indicating that first period would be starting in five minutes. He grabbed his books, slammed his locker door again, and headed into his geometry class. _

_Lorelai walked into class two minutes late, presented Mr. Morrison with a tardy slip and walked purposefully towards her seat, which was directly behind him. _

"_Hey," he mouthed as she passed him. She merely gave him her best fake society smile and walked on by, sliding into her seat behind him with out a word. _

_He tried several times to get her to talk to him over the course of the hour, but the notes he slipped onto her desk went unanswered. _

_The bell rang, and before he could say a word to her, she slipped past him and stopped to ask Mr. Morrison a question. _

_He merely sighed and walked out the door, knowing she would continue her conversation with Mr. Morrison as long as it took for him to leave. _

_Three hours later, despite several attempts, he still hadn't been able to talk to her. By afternoon history, he'd all but given up. _

"_Okay class, take out a sheet of paper, it's time for a pop quiz," Ms. Parks announced. Christopher rolled his eyes and ripped a sheet of paper out of his notebook. _

"_Christopher," Lorelai hissed from behind him. _

"_What?" he asked quietly. _

"_What were you doing with Sally-Ann Johnson this morning?"_

"_It was… do we have to do this right now? There's a pop quiz going on!"_

"_Yes we have to do it now!" she whispered in a voice that he could tell she wished was a scream. _

"_Ugh! Fine… I thought it-" _

"_Mr. Hayden, Ms. Gilmore, no talking, I'm giving a quiz!" Ms. Parks said loudly. "Now either be quiet and take the quiz, or take a zero on the quiz and go have your conversation in the hall!"_

_Lorelai slammed her pencil on her desk, grabbed her bag and stormed out the door, giving him a look that gave him no choice but to follow her. He exhaled sharply and followed her lead. _

"Here's your coffee," Lorelai said, her voice bringing him out of the past.

"Thanks," he replied, pulling the cup to his mouth to hide his smile. But he was not as quick as he thought.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Just had a random memory is all."

"More summer camp?" she asked with a grin.

"Yep!" he lied, not wanting to divulge his actual thoughts. "So how's the Inn?"

"It's good. Busy. I feel bad being gone so much lately, but luckily Sookie and Michel can handle it."

"Sookie burn anything down lately?"

"Ha ha!" she said tartly. "She did accidentally flambé her bangs though," Lorelai admitted with a genuine laugh.

"Poor Sookie, her health insurance premiums must be insane."

"I know, they really are."

The conversation dried up, and they both looked into their coffee cups awkwardly.

"So how's work going for you?" Lorelai finally asked a minute later.

"Really busy, but not unmanageable."

"Good I'm glad."

Silence again reigned over the table.

"Lorelai," Christopher started.

"This place has really good coffee. Do you like yours?" she blurted out.

"Yeah, it's good. Thanks again for the coffee." He took a demonstrative sip and smiled in appreciation.

"Luke and I done." The words came out of her mouth without any warning.

"Excuse me?"

"I… I couldn't do it."

"Couldn't do what?" Christopher asked, confused.

"I couldn't be the person he wanted me to be." She paused for a moment. "I tried Chris, I tried so hard. But the more I tried to be the person he wanted me to be the less I liked… everything. You know what I mean?"

"I'm sorry Lore," he said sympathetically. "I thought things were going okay for you guys."

She shook her head. "This last week has been the week from Hell. Having Luke and April both living in my house made me feel unwelcome there!"

"Well Luke's just been injured, he's probably having just as rough of a time," Christopher said, unsure of why he was defending Luke.

"Yeah," she grumbled. "I gave him the benefit of the doubt for the first couple days, but it never got any better. Any word I said to April had him giving me death glares!"

"I'm sorry."

"God Chris, how can he not know me better than that? I would never try to take his place, or intrude on his relationship with April!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. The tears welled up in her eyes and Chris slid his chair closer to her to put his arm around her.

"I don't know Lore. I honestly don't know. You're one of the best people I know, and you don't have a mean bone in your body. A malicious one maybe…" he teased.

She gave him a dirty look.

"But hey, you only use that one on your mother!" he added.

She shot him a watery smile, then used his suit jacket as a hanky, wiping her tears on his lapel. "Thanks Chris."

"Any time."

"Why can't he know me as well as you do?" she asked in a whisper.

"I don't know," he said again, murmuring soothingly into her hair.

"Am I ever going to figure this love stuff out?" she asked into his chest in a pathetic voice.

"No clue. But if you do, could you let me know? I'd like to figure it out as well," he responded, wrapping both arms around her for a hug. She chuckled against him. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Yes," she answered pushing herself away from him. She scrubbed at her tearstained eyes. "I am such a girl."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he retorted with a wink. They stood up from their table and he draped his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the building.

* * *

The short ride back to his office was quiet, but in a companionable manner. He pulled his BMW into the spot next to her Jeep and put the car into park.

"Thanks again, Christopher. I don't know what I'd do with out you."

"Well hopefully you'll never have to find out." She leaned over the console to hug him, so he met her half way. "Call me if you need anything."

She nodded into him, still hugging him tightly. He had a sneaking suspicion that she was crying again, so he began to gently rub her back.

"It'll be okay Lore," he reassured her.

She pulled her head back slightly. "I know." Then she leaned in again and kissed him on the lips.

Out of habit he kissed her back, for about two seconds. When he realized what he was doing he stopped and backed up.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Lore," he started.

"I thought… you still… loved me," she got out in a halted sentence.

"I do," he said instantly. "But, I can't be the rebound guy again."

"I understand," she said in a tone that sounded like she did not in fact understand at all.

"No, you don't. I love you Lorelai Gilmore. I've always loved you. I will always love you. But _this_, 'us', it won't work right now. You need some time. I need some time."

She nodded. "I understand," she said again, but this time it sounded more convincing. She quickly got out of his car and into her own, starting the engine and zooming out of the parking lot before he could even put himself back together to drive home.

* * *

Christopher Hayden was on the verge of getting exactly what he wanted, but he knew that one wrong step would screw it all up again, and this time, for good.

* * *

Another week had passed in San Francisco, and Logan still hadn't heard from Rory. The Rory email he kept in his draft folder was getting progressively longer, but he was holding strong and hadn't sent it to her yet. He was still giving her space.

It was Thursday afternoon, and he was in his office, absentmindedly spinning a pen on his fingers. His phone rang and he answered it on the first ring. "Huntzberger," he barked.

"McCrae," the voice on the other end barked back.

"Hey Col, how are you?"

"Good, Huntz. How are you? Any word from Gilmore yet?"

"I'm… okay. And no, no word from Rory, but it's so nice of you to ask," Logan replied sarcastically.

"Touchy."

"So what's going on Colin?"

"Wanted to confirm the dates of our trip with you. Can we still stay at your place?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great. We'll be there next week on Thursday, through the following Sunday."

"Wow Col, you're taking an entire week off? Are you okay?"

"Shut up Huntz."

Logan chuckled. "How's everything else? How's Steph? And work?"

"It's going okay. The old man is keeping me busy. Steph is pissed at you."

"What? Why is Steph pissed at me?" Logan asked.

"Dude. When's the last time you talked to her?" Colin asked in return.

"Dunno. A couple weeks I guess," he answered honestly.

"Exactly. She feels like you only call her when you need something. Like say, information on certain brunette reporter."

"Shit!" Logan exclaimed. "I'm such a jerk. I'll call her as soon as we hang up."

"That's probably a good idea," Colin confirmed. "But whatever you do, don't invite her to San Fran with us. Finn and I need a boys weekend."

"_You_ need a boys weekend?" Logan repeated suspiciously.

"Yes," he said tersely. Logan decided it was best just to leave it alone for the time being, he was sure whatever was bugging Colin would come out eventually.

"Okay. Well you guys are all set for your visit. Do you need anything else?"

"Nope. See you next week," Colin said.

"Bye man."

"Bye." Logan heard the click of the disconnect, waited about 30 seconds, then scrolled through his contacts to find Stephanie's number.

The phone rang three times, then an exasperated voice answered. "Hello."

"Hey Steph, how are you?" he asked instantly.

"I'm fine Logan. What do you need?" she asked, still sounding annoyed.

"I'm just calling to chat."

"Really?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. I realized I hadn't talked to you in a while and thought I'd call and say hi, see how things are going in your life. You know, catch up a bit."

"Okay," she said, still suspicious.

"So what's new? How's work?"

"Work's not bad. Keeping me busy and I actually enjoy it. Who knew I could turn shopping for other people into a job?"

"That's great Steph. So how are things going with Colin? Still in a hate him phase?" he asked with a laugh.

"I think we might be permanently in a 'hate him' phase," she said sadly.

"Oh Steph, I'm sorry. That really sucks, can I help?"

"Can you remove the stick from his ass?" she asked jokingly.

"Maybe."

"Seriously, I don't know what you can do. He's turned into a Katy Perry song!"

"He kissed a girl and he liked it?"

"No, dork. He's Hot N' Cold," she told him.

"I'm sorry. I know how that feels."

"Colin's Hot N' Cold with you too?" she asked trying to lighten the mood.

"No. I wish. Rory."

"I was wondering when you'd get around her," Stephanie said in a tone that told him he'd just confirmed all her suspicions.

"That's not why I called Steph. Sheesh." He ran his free hand through his hair in frustration. "I think I better go."

"Logan, wait," she started, "I'm sorry-"

He cut her off. "I know I've been calling you about Rory a lot lately. But I'm trying to be better about it and you won't even give me a chance!"

"You're right. I'm sorry," she said again. "So what do you want to talk about, instead of Rory or Colin?"

"Why don't you tell me about some of your crazy customers? I know you have them."

She laughed, "That I do." Then she launched into a story, about an older woman and hot pants.

Thirty minutes later Logan hung up the phone with a slight stomach ache from all the laughing, and feeling more secure in his relationship with Stephanie than he had in a while.

He glanced at his watch, and realized it was almost 5:00, he decided he'd check his email and make a quick addition to the Rory email before heading home for the night. He logged in and opened the most recent draft.

_4:48 pm_

_Apparently I'm a bad friend and it's your fault. Stephanie's gotten to the point that when I call she's suspicious about my motives until I ask about you. When did I become this guy? I know, you're laughing, I can hear you in my head telling me 'Logan, you've always been self-centered' but seriously, I used to be more attuned to what was happening in my friends' lives. I hope you make a decision soon, I miss you, and honestly I miss having room in my mind to think of things other than you. (Not that I don't love having you occupy my mind, but I miss having it be in a happier manner.)_

He re-read what he'd just written and thought about erasing it, but the email icon in the bottom of the screen flashed and he got distracted immediately. He clicked the icon and it took him to the new message.

_To: Logan Huntzberger  
From: Rory Gilmore  
Re: Your father says 'Hi.'_

_Hey Logan,_

_Yep, you read that email title right. Your father says hi. You'd think after all these years, I wouldn't still hate your father, but surprise, I do. _

_What happened you ask?  
Time: This morning at approximately 8:00 am  
Place: New York City  
More specific place: The Obama Press Corps weekly meeting, some random hotel conference room. _

_So I walk into the room a few minutes before the meeting starts, grab a fresh cup of coffee, and find a seat in the front near the door. (You know, my usual routine.) The room is half full, and there are more reporters streaming in, and everyone is a-buzz about something. As I'm sipping my coffee I finally overhear someone – apparently since several of the press corps writers are from HPG publications, it was decided that Mitchum would come in and give a lecture about news reporting. I swear Logan, I felt like someone had sucked the air out of me. No one here knows anything about me. They don't know about you, they don't know about my family, they know I went to Yale and that's about it. I decide the best course of action is to just keep my head down and hope that your dad doesn't see me. _

_Ha! (I know, you're already laughing) Of course, Mitchum comes in one minute before he's supposed to start lecturing and heads straight for me. _

_M: Hello Rory. Fancy meeting you here.  
R: Hi Mitchum. How are you? (I know, I probably should have called him Mr. Huntzberger, but I just couldn't work myself up to giving him that respect, not at 8:00 in the morning and with only two cups of crappy hotel coffee in my system.)  
M: I'm well. Busy. Who are you here with?  
R: I'm here for Hugo Black.  
M: Oh that's right. You met him through Logan didn't you? And speaking of, have you talked to my son lately?  
R: Logan introduced us, but I got the job all on my own. (I know, I shouldn't have let him bait me, but I couldn't help it. Again I plead lack of coffee.) And I saw Logan when he was in Hartford a couple weeks ago, but I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him since. (Yes, I know it was catty of me, but I was betting on you coming in and out town without telling him you were there.)  
M: Logan was in Hartford? (Score one for me!)  
R: (insert noncommittal affirmative noise of your choice here)  
M: (insert disgruntled scowl here)  
R: It was a quick impromptu trip, I'm sure he would have called if he'd had time. (Yes, the guilty conscious kicked in, and I didn't want to further injure your relationship with your parents.)  
M: * snort * Well if you talk to him again, tell him I say hello and ask him to call his mother.  
R: Of course.  
M: And send my regards to Richard and Emily as well. I'm sure I'll see you in a few weeks at the anniversary party.  
R: (nods)_

_Then the press corps wrangler came over and interrupted us to tell Mitchum that it was time to start his lecture. I looked around, and every reporter in the place was staring at me. I have to listen to your father prattle on, with a lecture that I've heard him give before even, all the while feeling the eyes of everyone in the place burning holes in the back of my head. THEN, he went on to use me as an example for something. _

_Needless to say, all of the other reporters now hate me, because they think I'm a pet of Mitchum's even though I don't work for him!!! The only time any of them have spoken to me all day is to try to dig around in my life. Oh and a couple of the girls have assumed that we dated (I neither confirmed nor denied), and have asked me how you were in bed. Don't worry, I gave them a rave review in my best sarcastic tone. (Fine everything I said was true, but they don't need to know that!)_

_This tour is going to get awfully uncomfortable for me until the next big scandal comes along! I really, really, hate your dad. _

_Okay – end rant. _

_How are you? I've been thinking about… well, everything, and while I haven't figured it all out yet, I can tell you with absolute certainty that I miss you, and that I can't wait to see you at the anniversary party. I promise I'll try to have it all sorted out by then, if not sooner. _

_I hope all is well with you. Don't forget to call your mother. =)_

_Love,_

_Rory_

Logan sat back in his chair and pressed the palms of his hands into his eye sockets. He and Rory had broken up, why couldn't his dad just leave her alone? He knew that his dad was trying to provoke her, or hurt her, and he knew it was just for sport. He picked up his phone to call his father and ream him out, but stopped short of dialing the last digit, knowing that no good would come from the call. He really wanted to send Rory a long missive back apologizing for his father's behavior, even though she knew it wasn't his fault. He hit reply, started typing his greeting, then decided he couldn't do it spur of the moment from his office. If he said the wrong thing, it wouldn't make her feel better. This was going to require careful consideration.

He glanced at his watch again, and found that it was a few minutes after 5:00, so he logged out of his email account and flicked off his monitor. He grabbed his briefcase and headed out the door, heading home to deal with things from there.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger was on the verge of getting exactly what he wanted, but he knew that one wrong step would screw it all up again, and this time, for good.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it's taken so long for an update. School has been kinda hectic, and frankly my muse has been taking me in other places. **

**I don't own the show. I don't own the Katy Perry songs mentioned, BMW or Jeep either. **

**Anyhow – I hope you like it. Please read and review. **

**S**


	13. Chapter 13 Curious Conversations

Rush hour made Logan Huntzberger's commute even longer than normal. He had nothing else to do but sit in traffic alternating between thinking about what to say to Rory and how nice it would feel to tell his father off. By the time he finally arrived home he'd mentally drafted three emails to Rory, none of which were exactly what he wanted to say, and had five imaginary phone conversations with his father, ranging how it would probably go (him yelling, his father yelling, him getting so mad he couldn't speak and his father getting the last word), to how he wished it would go (him thundering away like Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men and his father apologizing profusely).

He pulled into his driveway, shut off the car, pulled his briefcase off the front seat and headed into his house. He paused like he did most every day when he walked in the door, fighting the urge to call out '_Honey, I'm home!_' to no one, and set his briefcase down in the entryway. He went straight into the kitchen, bee-lining towards the fridge. Of course, it was empty except a few bottles of beer and some take out boxes that were likely growing mold. He slammed the door shut and kicked it for good measure, annoyed at his own life.

Heading into the living room, he paused to pour himself a scotch and hit speed dial two on his home phone. Two rings and a weary voice answered "Gianni's Pizza, will this be for delivery or carry out."

"Delivery please," Logan answered.

"Okay, is this Mr. Huntzberger?"

"Yes it is," he replied, still not able to get used to the local pizza joint having caller id.

"Are you still on Nickerson Street?"

"Yes, I am."

"Last time you had a large Vegetarian Supreme, would you like the same thing this time?" the girl asked. It must have been quite some time since he ordered pizza, he ordered vegetarian pizza for the first month or so after he and Rory split, when all things overly meaty reminded him too much of her.

"No, I think I'll get what ever you have that's like a meat lovers, and an order of breadsticks."

"Alright, that would be the Artery Clogger. Anything else?"

"It's called the Artery Clogger?" he asked curiously. Rory would love that, he thought with a smile.

"Yes sir."

"Just those two will be enough," he said responding to her earlier question.

"Okay, you've got a large Artery Clogger and an order of breadsticks. Your total will be $25.07. That'll be out to you in about 30 minutes. Would you just like us to charge the same credit card as last time?"

"Uh sure," he answered, again a little disconcerted that the pizza place had his credit card info on file.

"We just need to confirm the last four digits on the card and you're all done."

Logan fumbled around in his pocket for a moment before coming up with his wallet, "It's 2-9-5-6," he recited when he had the card in hand.

"Perfect. Your food will arrive shortly. Thank you for calling Gianni's Pizza. Have a nice day."

He heard the phone click before he could even say 'you too.'

* * *

As Logan waited for his dinner to arrive, he went into his office to snag his laptop and start replying to Rory. He grabbed it off the desk and headed back to the living room. He returned to Rory's email and reread it, looking for clues as to what he should say aside from 'I'm sorry about my dad.' He hit reply and started typing, hoping inspiration would hit while his fingers moved.

_To: Rory Gilmore  
From: Logan Huntzberger  
Re: Your father says Hi. _

_Rory,_

_I am SO sorry. I'm sorry my dad stopped to talk to you, I'm sorry your coworkers now have bad thoughts about you, and I'm sorry you have to deal with all of it. But, I am glad that you're still thinking about me, and us, in a positive light, despite interruptions from my father. That's progress, right?_

_Everything is moving along out here. Colin and Finn are coming out next week for a guys visit (so don't say anything to Steph if you talk to her, I think she and Colin are having one of their loathe each other phases), and work is keeping me busy. _

_Let's see, what else is going on… oh, the local pizza joint has a meat lover's pizza called the Artery Clogger, (I thought you'd get a kick out of that). I finally finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; it was pretty good for a translation. Oh yeah, and I met your Californian doppelganger, she delivers Indian food. _

He paused, not sure what else to say. He wanted to tell her how much he missed her, and how he found what he knew would be _the_ coffee shop if she ever moved out here, but then he decided it would be too much.

_Thanks for trying not to further injure my relationship with my parents, but I think I demolished it all by myself when I left HPG. So if you see my dad again, you can tell him you passed along the message, but I'm not calling my mother. _

He stared at his last paragraph, and wondered if he should delete it. He wanted everything to be light and happy with Rory right now, he didn't want to burden her with his parental issues.

Logan again considered calling Mitchum to tell him to leave Rory alone, but he'd been successfully dodging his father's calls since he quit HPG, and he knew that if he called, Mitchum would leave Rory alone, but it would cost Logan something, and he wasn't sure if it would be worth it.

_Several Months Earlier _

_Logan couldn't believe his deal had blown up. And he couldn't believe that in response he was being treated as a child by all of his coworkers. He worked his ass off for that deal, and now everyone was treating him as though he was just someone they had to put up with because of his last name. He could take the consequences, he knew what he was doing, he'd spent months proving himself and he didn't need everyone reverting back to thinking that he was only there because he was a Huntzberger. _

_He strode towards his father's office to put an end to things once and for all. He was furious, he could feel the anger radiating from him, if he were Bruce Banner he would be big and green right now. He paused quickly to ask the secretary if his father was alone, and when she nodded that he was, he continued towards his office. He threw the door open so hard that it slammed into the wall behind it and came flying back at him. He put his hand out to catch it moments before it came in contact with his face. _

_His father was sitting behind his desk, looking as unflappable as usual, just talking on the phone. Mitchum looked up when the door slammed, but didn't halt his conversation. He finished his sentence then sighed. "Ron, it looks like my son is here to throw a temper tantrum, I'll have to call you back." He hung up the phone and looked at Logan. "Hello son, what brings you here today?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice. _

"_I quit," Logan said firmly. _

"_You quit?" Mitchum repeated. "You quit what?"_

"_My job."_

_Mitchum sighed, "Right. Fine. I'll reassign you," he said in a voice that he used to placate his wife all the time. _

"_No Dad, I'm leaving HPG."_

_Mitchum snorted in disbelief. "You're the heir, you can't leave," his father reminded him in a cold voice. _

"_Well if I could quit being a Huntzberger I'd do that too, but I can't change my genes," Logan retorted. _

"_Logan, you're acting like a child."_

"_No Dad. I'm not. If I were acting like a child I'd run away and stop answering your calls, forcing you to come track me down based on charges to my American Express card and drag me home," he explained, thinking of his year off, and any number of other occasions where he'd gotten into a fight with his dad. "I've grown up. And I'm quitting. I'm tired of having everything I do, either good or bad, be credited solely to the fact that I'm a Huntzberger."_

_His father stared at him, but didn't say a word. For the first time he could ever remember, the great Mitchum Huntzberger was speechless. Logan decided to take advantage of this by making his exit, and slamming the door behind him, all but sprinting to the elevator before his father could reply. _

Logan hadn't spoken to Mitchum since he walked out of his office all those months before. Not that his father didn't try to change that. He called at least once a week, which Logan refused to answer. He emailed every once and while and Logan deleted them without reading them. The only thing Mitchum hadn't done was come out to California himself and try to talk to his son face to face. But Logan knew that Mitchum knew exactly where he lived, and where his office was, so should he ever want to visit, he could with ease.

He knew if he called to tell Mitchum to back off, it would reopen the lines of communication, and his father would expect him to return phone calls and emails, and even worse, visit. Was his potential relationship with Rory worth it? He would make the call without hesitation if he and Rory were together, but was giving up his hard won freedom for maybe getting back together with Rory the right choice? He sighed deeply and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" his father answered on the second ring.

"So, Rory said you said hello," he replied, making it very apparent the only reason he was calling was because of Rory.

"Did she now? I was quite surprised to bump into her when I was in New York."

"Sure you were." Logan knew his father better than that.

"I hadn't seen her since before you left HPG," Mitchum told him. And it was probably the truth, Mitchum may not have seen her, but he'd probably kept tabs on her.

"Could you please leave her alone? We're not together anymore. You got your wish. You don't need to torment her."

"She told you I tormented her?" Mitchum asked with a laugh.

"Not directly, but I'm assuming that since you managed to turn all of her colleagues against her, it's tantamount to torment."

"Logan, it really wasn't my intention."

"Sure. Whatever. Could you just leave her alone?"

"Logan, I- " Mitchum paused, "It's not my wish that you aren't together anymore. I've been following her stuff all summer. She's actually a decent writer."

"Dad," Logan started, but he was cut off.

"She doesn't listen very well, since I told her to have you call your mother, but I wasn't trying to harass her. Talking to her got me to be able to talk to you."

"Of course, I should have seen that coming."

"Son, you need to come back to HPG."

"I'm happy where I am. The company is doing really well."

"I know it is, and I'm proud of you," Mitchum mumbled the last part of the sentence.

"Excuse me?" Logan said, not sure he heard the words right.

"I said, I'm proud of you, you just needed a little push."

"Oh no you don't. Don't you dare turn my successful company into your success. I did this on my own. Without you. Without HPG. Without using my name to get what I wanted."

"You're right. But I am proud of you. And now you should come back to HPG and be even more successful here."

"No."

"Really Logan, it's your legacy."

"I'm well aware, I've been hearing about it my entire life."

"You belong at HPG."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Look, I'm not saying I'll never return to HPG, but I'm just not going to do it right now. I'm enjoying being on my own, responsible for my own life. For once in my life I'm having to work for what I want, and I actually like it."

"Well I guess I can't argue with that," Mitchum said with a chuckle. "My son, actually working and enjoying it. I can't believe it."

Logan laughed. "I know. I never thought the day would come."

"I guess that Gilmore girl was good for you."

He stiffened at his father's mention of Rory. "I tried to tell you that before. So will you leave her alone?"

"Logan, honestly I wasn't trying to bother her. Really. But I will leave her alone as you ask. So will you do me a favor and call your mother?"

"No."

"Logan!"

"Dad, I'm not trying to be difficult or stubborn, and surprisingly, I've actually, somewhat, enjoyed our conversation, but I'm not calling Mom. After what she said…" he trailed off not wanting to think about it.

"What she said when?" Mitchum asked curiously.

"When I proposed to Rory."

"What did she say?"

"You don't know? I got the feeling it was the Huntzberger family press release," he replied sharply.

"Logan," his father growled.

"She said it was for the best that Rory turned me down, and that now I could focus my attentions on the right kind of girl. Rory had just turned me down! And do I get sympathy from my family? No. My mother is elated that "that girl" won't be part of the family, and offering to fix me up with that lovely Fallon girl. She didn't give a single moment of pause for my feelings or show any concern for me. Rory broke my heart, and my mother was happy about it!" Logan shouted. He tried so hard to block the memory and the pain, but it all came back, washing over him. "So needless to say, I'm not going to call my mother."

"Alright son," Mitchum said quietly. "I understand, and I'm sorry. For what it's worth, that wasn't the Huntzberger family press release, as you put it. I was sorry to hear that Rory turned you down. After seeing you two together, and seeing you change your life for the better with her, I thought you were good together. You complimented each other."

"Right, you just thought if you could control her career, you could control me," Logan scoffed.

"If that's what you want to believe," Mitchum replied in a resigned manner. Maybe his father was telling him the truth after all.

"Thanks Dad," Logan said sincerely.

"So… does this mean you'll start returning my calls?"

"If you promise not to bug me about coming back to HPG right away, then yes, I will return _some_ of your calls."

Mitchum laughed. "It's a deal."

"Good night Dad."

"Good night Son."

Logan hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang with his pizza. He tipped the driver, and carried the boxes to the coffee table. He opened the pizza box to find the Artery Clogger looking better than he could have expected - pepperoni, salami, pancetta, Canadian bacon, and Italian sausage all smothered in a layer of thick mozzarella cheese - not a veggie in sight. He took a bite, smiling as a warm feeling of bliss overtook him, and returned to his email.

He deleted the last paragraph and tried again.

_Thanks for trying not to further injure my relationship with my parents. If anything you helped it out. I called my dad to ask him to leave you alone. It was the first time we'd spoken since I left HPG, and it actually turned out to be a good conversation. He shouldn't bother you anymore. I'm still not going to call my mother, but at least I'm speaking to one of my parents now._

_Anyhow, my Artery Clogger arrived. It's delicious and I want to enjoy it while it's hot. I'm sorry my dad made things difficult for you, if I can do anything to fix it, let me know. I'll see you at the anniversary party in a few weeks and I hope to hear from you sooner than that =)_

_Love,  
Logan_

He quickly hit send, so he wouldn't over think it, and closed the lid on his laptop. He took a long drink of his scotch, grabbed a second slice of pizza, and tried to figure out what to do with the rest of his night. Finally he flicked on the television and began to flip channels.

* * *

Surprisingly, Logan Huntzberger felt happier than he had in a very long time.

* * *

Christopher Hayden glanced over at his non-ringing phone, and wished for about the hundredth time in the last week that he had Marty McFly's Delorean. He mentally kicked himself for telling Lorelai no. Sure he meant it. But now a week had passed since he'd heard anything from her, and that of course gave him plenty of time to replay their last meeting on a loop in his head, trying to figure out what he should have said or done differently.

He laughed at his own neurosis. There had been plenty of times when he'd gone weeks, if not months, without talking to Lorelai Gilmore. Sometimes it was his own doing, sometimes it was hers, but either way, a week was usually nothing. When did he become such a girl? He hadn't been without his phone since Lorelai got out of his car after the trip to Café Caffeine. He took it everywhere with him. To bed, to the bathroom, he wouldn't even leave it stationary at the house or on his desk at work. It was always on him. And to add to it, he found himself checking his voicemail at home while he was at work, and checking his voicemail at work while he was at home, and checking his email non-stop. This tiny week of no communication had him twisted up like a teenage girl. This had to stop.

"Daddy?" Gigi called from the living room.

"Yeah G?" he called back from his office.

"I'm bored."

It was Saturday morning, and Christopher had been moping around, mired in his own self-pity, to the point of self-absorption. This wasn't fair to Gigi and he knew it. "Well, what do you want to do today?" he asked as he got up from his desk and headed for the living room.

"I want to ride a pony!"

He sighed, he should have known that was coming. Gigi hadn't missed the birthday party. She'd gotten her pony ride as promised, but she fell in love with ponies. Now everything was about ponies. He thought about her request for a moment and an idea struck him. "How would you like to ride a horse instead of a pony?"

"Okay!" she exclaimed excitedly. She jumped up and ran into her room to get dressed. "Can we go right now?"

"Let me make a few calls and see what I can find out. Why don't you finish watching Saturday morning cartoons first?"

"Okay," she said sullenly. She stomped back into the living room and threw herself down on the couch.

Christopher smiled. His girl sure was bright, he wasn't expecting this type of behavior for another few years, but Gigi had it mastered already. Wouldn't her teen years be fun now? He felt a sharp pang in his chest as he hoped Lorelai would be there to help him get through those years, but knowing that it was a distinct possibility that he would be alone. He returned to his office and did a couple quick internet searches to find local stables with trail rides. This was something he and Gigi could do together. He called the first stable and they were full up for the day, but the second stable had some openings.

"We have a trail ride starting at 2:00, sir. Would that work for you?" the woman at the stable asked.

"I think so. My daughter is not quite 5 yet, is that going to be a problem?"

"Not at all, we have some smaller horses, and some that are quite gentle," she reassured him.

"Then 2:00 would be perfect. The last name is Hayden."

"Alright sir, I've got you down." She hung up the phone before he could respond.

Christopher jotted down the address of the stable, and headed back to the living room. He found Gigi on the couch where he'd left her, but her mood seemed to be improved. She was laughing at the cartoon. He sat down on the couch next to her.

"Are we going now?" she asked.

"Not yet. But how about you get dressed and we go out to brunch first?" The stable was about an hour away, leaving plenty of time for food.

"What's brunch?"

Sometimes he really did forget how young his daughter was. "It's the combination of breakfast and lunch," he explained. "Now go get dressed. Wear jeans."

Christopher went to get dressed as well. He pulled on some faded jeans and a sweater, and searched his closet for the right shoes. Somehow neither wingtips nor sneakers seemed appropriate, and his motorcycle boots just seemed too heavy. He sighed and pulled on his oldest pair of sneakers. Maybe he should stop and get some boots on the way.

He met Gigi in the hall and found her in jeans and tennis shoes as well. Maybe they should stop and get her some boots on the way too. "Ready to go?" he asked.

She nodded vigorously and they headed towards the garage.

As they passed the kitchen, the home phone rang. Christopher thought about ignoring it, if it were important they'd leave a message, but he still couldn't quite shake his girly tendencies that it might be Lorelai.

"Hello?" he answered brusquely.

"Christopher?" a familiar voice asked.

"Yes."

"It's Emily." Why was Emily Gilmore calling him?

"Hello Emily. Is everything all right?" he asked, full of concern. Emily never called him. He'd RSVP'd to her party, so she couldn't be calling about that.

"It's about Lorelai," she replied.

"Is Lorelai hurt?" Panic he couldn't control found it's way into his voice, as Gigi looked at him slightly scared.

"No. Not physically. She just seems out of sorts and I was wondering if you knew what was going on," Emily explained.

He was not going to get in between two Gilmore Girls. He'd learned that lesson many times over the course of the years. "Sorry Emily, I haven't talked to her in about a week, so I haven't a clue," he lied easily. He had a clue, but he wasn't about to divulge Lorelai's personal life to Emily. "I'm sure she's fine. If it was anything serious I know she'd tell you."

"I suppose you're right Christopher," Emily said thoughtfully, "and I don't suppose you'll let me know if you find out anything either."

"You're probably right there Emily." Actually she was absolutely right. Even if Christopher knew exactly what was going on with Lorelai, he would only tell Emily if it were a life or death situation, and even then, he'd have to pause and think about it first.

"I'll see you at the anniversary party then?"

"Of course."

"Good day Christopher."

"And to you as well Emily, give my best to Richard," he said in closing.

"Of course," she replied, and then hung up the phone. He hung up on his end and wondered how altered Lorelai's behavior was to inspire Emily to call him.

"Daddy, hurry up!" Gigi yelled from the garage door, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"I'm coming G."

* * *

Brunch was delicious, but uneventful, as was the shopping for boots, and soon Christopher was pulling into the stables for the trail ride.

"Are you ready for the trail ride?" he asked Gigi as he opened her door to get her out of her booster seat.

"What's a trail ride?"

"It's where you get to ride a horse on a trail in the woods."

"By myself?" she asked nervously.

"Well, no. You get to be on the horse by yourself, but there's a bunch of other people on the ride, see all those kids and their parents over there?" he asked pointing to a group of people he assumed were also going on the trail ride.

"They're all going too?"

"Yep."

"But I don't know any of them." He was surprised that Gigi was nervous. She was usually very outgoing when it came to new people.

"That's okay, I'm going with you too."

"You can ride a horse Daddy?"

"Of course I can. I went to summer camp and birthday parties too when I was a kid."

"Really Daddy?" Gigi asked, surprised.

"Yep. Aunt Lorelai loved horses too."

Gigi's face lit up. "Aunt Lorelai loved horses?"

"Yep. We came for a trail ride on her 10th birthday," he confirmed. And her 11th birthday, and her 12th birthday, he recalled. He fought the urge to text Lorelai, or call her and remind her of this memory. Gigi hopped out of the backseat and headed for the large group of people, and Christopher chucked his mobile phone onto the passenger seat, locked the doors and headed after her.

"Did Rory love horses too?" Gigi asked as he caught up to her.

"I don't know kid, maybe you should ask her next time she calls," Christopher suggested, feeling slightly guilty that he didn't know enough about his own daughter's childhood to know if she ever had a horse phase.

"If she does, maybe we can all go on a trail ride together," Gigi suggested. The thought of his daughters together almost burst his heart. "And maybe we can invite Aunt Lorelai too."

"We'll see."

* * *

The riding instructors got everyone settled on horses relatively quickly. Gigi was on an older mare called Dolly, and Christopher was on a quarter horse called Thunder. Given the number of children on the ride, there were several instructors to lead and follow, and soon they were off into the woods. Christopher watched as Gigi eagerly held the reins and bounced up and down in her saddle. He smiled to himself and let his mind drift off to memories of the past, knowing Thunder could play follow the leader and needed no guidance from his rider.

_April 1978_

"_Christopher, hurry up!" his father bellowed up the stairs. "You need to get to the Gilmores soon or you'll miss the party."_

"_I'm coming," he hollered back. He looked in the mirror again, leave it to stupid Lorelai to pick a cowboy party, and now he was stuck wearing these uncomfortable boots, and this dorky plaid shirt. At least the hat was cool, he thought as he pulled on a brown cowboy hat. He stomped down the stairs in his boots making as much noise as possible. _

"_Did you get Lorelai's present?" Francine asked as he headed towards the garage. _

"_Yes," he mumbled, holding up a brightly wrapped box. _

"_Well let's go. Your father and I have dinner plans so you'll ride to the stables with Richard and Emily and then we'll pick you up after the party from their house."_

"_Great. Why do I have to go to this party again?"_

"_Christopher, Lorelai is your best friend!" his mother scolded. _

"_No she's not. Brian Johnson is." _

_His mother rolled his eyes at him. "Regardless, you're going anyhow. All of your little friends will be there."_

"_Fine," he replied as he slammed the car door when he got in, sulking in the passenger seat on the drive over. _

"_Lorelai, Christopher is here!" He heard Emily call when he opened the door to get out of the car. _

"_I'm coming Mom!" Lorelai yelled from somewhere in the house. She ran outside in jeans and a pink western shirt, with black cowboy boots and a matching hat he could tell were brand new. "Like my new boots?" she asked as she stopped in front of him._

"_Sure," he replied, handing her his gift. "Happy Birthday."_

"_Thanks. Mom! Present!" she called to Emily who was getting her purse and coat so she could drive them out to the stables._

"_Beatrice, would you come collect this package from Lorelai and put it in the living room for when we return?" Emily called to the maid. "Kids, get in the car, we need to leave right away to meet the rest of your friends."_

_Christopher and Lorelai piled into the back seat of Emily's Mercedes, and they headed off to the stables to meet the rest of their class for a trail ride. _

_As they got closer to the stables the more excited Lorelai got. As they approached and fields and got their first glimpse of the horses Lorelai reached out and squeezed his hand excitedly. "I can't believe we're here!" she squealed. _

"_Lorelai, calm down," Emily scolded from the drivers seat. _

_Lorelai's head dropped sadly and she relinquished her grip on Christopher's hand, as if she suddenly remembered that boys were icky. _

"_This is going to be so much fun," Christopher whispered to her, trying to cheer her up, even though he didn't really think it would be fun at all, Lorelai had been talking about her birthday party for months. Every birthday party they'd been to in between he'd heard about how much better hers was going to be. _

"_Thanks," she whispered back with a smile. _

Christopher sighed, coming back to the present day and thoughts of Lorelai. Even at 10 he wanted to make her happy. Even when girls had cooties, he endured the torment from other boys from hanging around her. Amazing almost 30 years later, he was doing the same thing.

"Daddy, look at that!" Gigi exclaimed, pointing to the woods. "It's Bambi!"

"Where?"

"She ran away!"

"Well we'll keep watching, and maybe we'll see her again."

For the remaining hour and a half of the trail ride, Gigi kept a vigilant watch out for Bambi, but never spotted her again. She did however find Bambi's friend Thumper, and a couple of squirrels or chipmunks, Christopher could never tell the difference.

* * *

"Did you have fun Gigi?" he asked as he lifted her into her booster seat.

"Yes! Can I call Rory now? I want to tell her all about it."

"Sure." Christopher grabbed his phone and started to dial Rory. He paused momentarily to see that he had two missed calls. One from an unknown number and one from Rory. There was one new voicemail, but it was likely from Rory so he skipped listening to it in favor of just returning her call.

It rang twice before someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Ror is that you?" It was a woman that answered the phone, but it didn't really sound like Rory.

"No. This is Beth, Rory's roommate. She's in the bathroom, can I tell her who's calling?"

"Uh, sure. It's her dad."

"_Rory! Your dad's on the phone, do you want to take the call?" _He heard Beth yelling even though he could tell she tried to muffle the phone. _"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec!" _He heard Rory reply.

"Hold on a sec Mr. Gilmore, she'll be right with you."

Christopher laughed. "Thanks."

"Hey Dad!" Rory said less than a minute later. "What's going on?"

"You called, I'm just calling you back."

"Dad!" Gigi whined from the back seat.

"Oh, and your sister wants to talk to you."

"Well let me talk to Gigi first, then I'll talk to you."

"Alright," he told Rory. "Gigi here's your sister." He handed her the phone and proceeded around the car to climb into the drivers seat, and head for home. Smiling as he listened to the 5 year old half of a conversation.

"Do you like horses Rory?"  
"Did you have pony birthday parties?"  
"I do, and Daddy does, and Aunt Lorelai does too! We should all go on a trail ride together."  
"Ohhhh. When are you coming home?"  
"Are you going to visit me?"  
"Did you bring me any presents?"  
"I miss you too sissy."  
"Okay, here's Daddy."

Christopher reached his hand backwards to retrieve the phone from Gigi.

"Wow. She's very inquisitive," his eldest daughter said as he put the phone to his ear.

"That she is. Sorry if she put you on the spot, she's in a horsey phase. We went on a trail ride today."

"Ah. Well rest assured, I like horses and we can go on a family trail ride when I get home," she told him.

"Thanks Rory. So what's going on with you?" he asked.

"You know. The usual journalism thing. You can't keep a secret from 100 reporters that you spend all of your time with."

"Uh oh, what happened?"

"They found out I know the Huntzbergers," Rory said him sullenly.

"Did you and Logan get back together?" Christopher asked curiously.

"No. Not yet. Mitchum showed up to give a lecture."

He cringed at the thought. "Sorry kid."

"Yeah well. Hopefully the next big scandal will come around soon enough and people will stop treating me like a leper."

"A leper? Really?" he questioned.

"Okay fine, not like a leper. What's the opposite of a leper? They all keep trying to suck up to me, to my face, hoping to get an in at HPG. And they all talk about me behind my back. Whatever that is," she explained in an exasperated tone.

"That's celebrity Ror. You should know that," he teased.

"Arg! I just wish it would go away."

"I hear ya. I bet that sucks."

"Anyhow. So have you talked to Mom lately?" Rory asked.

"Not in about a week."

"What happened with you two?"

Christopher paused for a moment, vacillating between lying and telling her nothing happened, and deflecting and telling her to ask her mother. He opted for door number three, honesty. "I'm not really sure. Is your mom doing okay?"

"I don't know Dad. She called for advice on making a pro con list. And she's refusing to wallow over Luke. You know the importance of wallowing to a Gilmore Girl!" she exclaimed.

"I know hon."

"Will you call her?" Rory asked, pleading.

"Ror, I can't."

"Please?"

"The ball's in her court. I HAVE to leave it there this time," he said emphatically.

"Fine. I'm just worried."

"Your mom's a strong lady. She'll be okay. I'm sure as soon as she figures her stuff out, she'll call you and tell you all about it," he reassured his daughter.

"Will you call me if you hear anything."

"If I can I will."

"I love you Dad."

"I love you too. Hey are you coming home for your grandparent's anniversary party?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah."

"Good. Then I'll see you in a few weeks."

"Alright. Bye Dad."

"Bye."

He hung up the phone and glanced in the rearview mirror. Gigi was sound asleep in the back seat. He dialed into his voicemail to clear it, only to find that the message wasn't from Rory.

"_Hey Chris, it's me," Lorelai's voice filled his ear. "I'm at some wacky little B & B in Salem for the weekend, just trying to get away and sort stuff out. Call me back if you get a chance at The Broomstick - isn't that a horrid name for a B & B?- I'm in room 4."_

He wasn't quite sure what to do with her message, as whatever was coming from Lorelai was not something he wanted to deal with while driving, but he couldn't help smiling.

* * *

Surprisingly, Christopher Hayden felt happier than he had in a very long time.

* * *

**Author's Note: So sorry for the delay, it's been MONTHS since I've updated. I hope I still have some readers. Please read and review, even if it's only to give me grief about how long I've taken to update. **

**I don't own anything. I made up Logan's pizza place, and Lorelai's 10th birthday party. **

**Thanks for reading, if you're still out there. **

**S**


	14. Chapter 14 Choices

Christopher Hayden tried to remain calm as he sorted out dinner for his daughter. He was too anxious to eat. He wanted to return Lorelai's phone call from earlier in the day, but being unsure of what it held made him leery to do so before Gigi went to bed. "What do you want on your pizza G?" he asked.

"Uhm… pineapples," she told him.

"Anything else?"

"Pepperoni."

"Pepperoni and pineapple?" he asked to confirm. "Are you sure?"

He watched her think about it for a minute then nodded her head yes. "I'm sure."

"Okay," he responded hesitantly. "If you don't like it, you're on your own."

"Pepperoni and pineapple Daddy!" she told him firmly.

He sighed and ordered the pizza, not really sure why he cared since he wasn't eating it, and one wasted pizza wouldn't break the bank. After he hung up the phone he returned his attentions to his daughter. "What do you want to watch tonight?"

"Sleeping Beauty!" she exclaimed. Gigi was going through a princess phase along with her horsey phase, and he really couldn't wait for her to grow out of it. Princesses were harder on daddies he thought, dress up and tea parties and such. At least he could ride a horse with her.

"Sleeping Beauty it is," he confirmed as he wandered into the living room and pulled the DVD from the shelf. "Pizza will be here in 20 minutes."

"Can I watch the movie while I eat?"

Usually dinnertime was family time, no television, one of the few things he'd imposed from his own childhood. "I suppose an exception can be made for tonight," he told her, and watched as her face lit up in delight. Christopher momentarily wished he was five again, when pizza and a movie was the ultimate way to spend an evening. "How about you go take a shower and put your pjs on while you wait for the pizza?"

"But I took a shower yesterday," Gigi whined.

"But you smell like a horse today!" he told her with a laugh.

"Okay," she huffed, but went to go take a shower anyhow.

Christopher listened to Lorelai's message a second time while Gigi was in the shower. He tried to interpret her tone and guess what she would say to him when he called. Unfortunately his hopes and fears influenced his thoughts, and they varied wildly between her professing her unending love and then the next second her telling him she never wanted to speak to him ever again. He was finally pulled from his neurotic musings by the doorbell.

By the time he paid the pizza guy and had Gigi's plate made up and her juice ready, Gigi had reappeared in her pink frilly nightgown.

"Is the food here? I'm ready for my movie!" she exclaimed as she bounced into the living room.

"Yep, it just got here," he told her as he set a plate with two small slices of pizza in front of her.

"Aren't you having any Daddy?" she asked.

"I'm not hungry yet, so I'll have some later. I'm just going to push play on your movie, then go take a shower."

"Okay!" He started the movie and Gigi eagerly dug into her pizza and watched as Malificent cursed the baby princess. Christopher watched from the doorway as the fairy godmothers tried to mitigate the witches curse. Then, content that Gigi was occupied, he retreated to his room to get out of his horsey smelling clothes and take a long hot shower.

As he stood in the shower, he let the water pour down over him, and his thoughts again returned to Lorelai. He tried to prepare himself for the worst, but couldn't fight the bubbles of hope that were cropping up.

After he dried himself off and threw his bathrobe on over his pajama pants he padded back into the living room to check on G. All of her pizza was gone, even the crust, and she was still contently watching the movie. "Gigi, do you want another slice?"

"Can I have ice cream instead?"

He smiled. "Sure. Strawberry or mint chocolate chip?"

"Mint chocolate chip!"

"Okay, hand me your plate and your empty glass and I'll bring you some ice cream."

She hopped up and brought her plate and glass to him, then quickly returned to the couch, to avoid missing her movie. He took the dirty dishes and headed into the kitchen. He set them in the sink and grabbed a small bowl from the cupboard and the ice cream from the freezer. As he filled her bowl, he realized there was only a few bites left, so after he delivered the ice cream to the living room, with the instructions that it be eaten sitting at the coffee table only, he returned to the kitchen to polish off the carton of mint chocolate chip he'd left on sitting on the counter.

Between bites, he called information to get the phone number for The Broomstick, not that he was quite ready to call, Gigi was still awake, but just so he'd be prepared. After he got the phone number, and finished the ice cream, he paced around his kitchen having more imaginary conversations with Lorelai. He really wished there was someone he could call to help him get a grip. Unfortunately that person was usually Lorelai, and he couldn't call her about this. He slapped himself to try to shake himself out of his nerves, but it didn't help. After a few more minutes of pacing he returned to check on Gigi and find her asleep on the couch, with the empty bowl of ice cream on the coffee table. He debated whether or he should just take her to bed, or if he should wake her up. If he woke her up, she'd brush her teeth, but she'd also want to stay up for the rest of the movie. If he let her sleep, she'd forgo the teeth brushing, and be upset about missing the movie, but he'd get to call Lorelai sooner. Of course, if Lorelai found out he'd cut Gigi's evening short to talk to her, she'd be pissed. She was first and foremost a parent.

Having made the decision, he paused the movie and reached down and shook Gigi gently. She blinked a couple times and then looked up at him. "Hey sweetie, you fell asleep during the movie, so I think it's time for you to go to bed."

"What about the rest of the movie?"

"You can watch the rest of it tomorrow," he assured her.

"But I want to see the end!" she told him adamantly.

"And you will. Tomorrow."

"But Daddy…"

"No buts Gigi. If I turn this movie back on you'll fall right back asleep."

"No I won't!"

"Yes you will. Go brush your teeth and pick a book and I'll read you a story instead."

She huffed at him, and he was afraid she might work her way up to a tantrum, but instead something changed and she smiled and darted off to the bathroom.

Christopher turned off the television and put the ice cream bowl into the dishwasher while he waited for Gigi's call that she was ready for her story. He didn't have to wait too long.

"I'm ready Daddy! Come read to me."

"Alright, I'm coming!" he called back as he headed to her room.

He walked into her room and found her in her bed with her covers pulled up around her and her scrunchy bunchy tucked under one arm. "I want you to read this one," she informed him as she handed him a thick book.

"There are 25 stories in this book, you get to pick one," he replied as he took the thick Disney anthology from her.

"I want Sleeping Beauty!" she exclaimed.

What a tricky girl! He couldn't help it, and he laughed aloud at her cleverness. "Alright Gigi, I'll read you Sleeping Beauty." He opened the book and began to read the story. Of course, he was right, and Gigi was really tired, so it was only a few pages into the story when she fell asleep. He put a bookmark into the book and closed it quietly, and then tip-toed out of the room.

* * *

He looked at his watch as he went back to the kitchen, it was 8:00. There was no more stalling, it was time to call Lorelai back. He sat at the counter and picked up the scrap of paper he'd written the number to the inn on. He immediately stood back up and went to go pour himself a scotch, just in case, and returned to the stool at the island where the number was. He took a fortifying sip of the scotch and dialed the number.

"Good evening, Broomstick Inn," a voice answered on the second ring.

"Yes, can I get to Lorelai Gilmore in room four please?" he asked in return.

"I'll transfer you now." He heard the click and a moment or two of hold music before the phone began ringing again. Once, twice, a third time, he was starting to get nervous. Would she answer? Or had he waited to long? The phone rang a fourth time and he was beginning to fear that the call would be transferred back to the reception desk.

"Hello?" a breathless Lorelai answered the call.

"Lore?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You sound out of breath."

"I was soaking in the tub when the phone rang. I thought it might be you and didn't want to miss the call," she admitted.

"You were right, it's me. So, what's going on?" he asked curiously. "Did you run away?" he teased.

"Sort of," she answered quietly.

"Lorelai!"

"I'm kidding Christopher. I just decided to take a little trip to have some me time. Get away from everything familiar so I could sort out my feelings from the feelings I expect from others, you know?"

"Not really," he told her truthfully.

"At home in Stars Hollow, there are memories of me and Luke everywhere. There are people with a vested interest in our relationship, and when I see them, all I can think about is how they feel about me, and Luke, and my relationship with Luke. When I'm in Hartford, there are memories of us, you and me, everywhere. And I can feel my parents hopes and aspirations. I needed to find some place that didn't have an attachment to anyone," she explained.

"I can understand that. So has it helped?"

"I think so."

"So what do you feel?" he asked nervously.

"It's you."

"It's me?" he repeated.

"You're the one for me. It's always been you."

"Do you really think so? We've tried so many times before," he reminded her.

"I know that. But I think it's our circumstances that make it so we don't work," she told him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if I hadn't gotten pregnant at 16, and our parents hadn't tried to force us to get married, I think we would have stayed together, and we would have eventually gotten married on our own. The pressure made me run. It made you run."

"I can see that. But what about later?"

"I think if Sherry hadn't turned up pregnant with Gigi, we could have made it work when you came back when Rory was 16," she admitted. "I wanted it to work then, but given the situation, I wouldn't fight for you."

"If Sherry hadn't been pregnant when she showed up in the picture, you would have fought for me?" he asked, honestly surprised.

"Yes."

"Okay what about this last time? No one was in our way, we chose to get married," he reminded her. "There was no Sherry, there was no Luke. What went wrong?"

"I've spent a lot of time thinking about that," she told him. "I think it was a combination of a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"Like we got married in secret. Like there was something to be ashamed of."

"Is that how you felt when we got married? Like I didn't want to marry you in front of God and everyone?" he asked, hurt at the insinuation.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I know you weren't ashamed."

"Were you ashamed to marry me?" His voice was harsher than it was meant to be.

"Not to marry you. I was caught up in the moment though. It was Paris. It was romantic. But when we got home, yes, I felt ashamed. Of me. Of us."

"I don't understand," he said. He rubbed his temple with his free hand, then took a sip of his scotch.

"Rory wasn't even there Chris. Our daughter, the one we created together, wasn't there to see us finally get married. How bad of a mother does that make me?" she told him. He could hear the desperation in her voice as she tried to make him understand. "My parents weren't there. After everything I put them through they deserved to be there to see me get married."

"I can see how that could add some stress," he finally conceded. "So what else went wrong?"

"It was me. I refused to leave my comfort zone in Stars Hollow," she admitted. He was surprised, Lorelai was never one to take blame on herself, not that she didn't recognize when things were her fault, but she usually never admitted it.

"Your business is there," he said, defending her decision.

"So what? People commute to work all the time, you did it, I could have done it too."

"It's not all your fault," he told her, needing to take some of the blame. "I could have tried harder to tell you what I wanted, what I needed. I'm the one that ran away when things got bad. I'm the one that wasn't there when you needed me."

"I know it's not all my fault Chris, but thanks for admitting your faults too," she said softly. "And then there was Luke," she continued.

"Luke," he repeated, feeling himself stiffen at the mere mention of the name, like bad news was bound to follow his name.

"I never really got closure on Luke. I broke up with him and ended up in your bed not even a few hours later."

"Hey! I-" he started to defend his actions, their actions.

"I'm not blaming you Christopher, that one's all on me. I'm just admitting that it hindered my ability to get closure."

"Okay."

"But not having closure with Luke made it really easy to slip into 'the grass is always greener' argument. If something happened with you, I would find myself thinking about how that wouldn't happen with Luke," she told him.

"Then why do you think that I'm the one?" he asked bitterly.

"I have closure with Luke now. I know that there are things that happen with Luke that wouldn't happen if I were with you, and those are the important things." She paused, and he remained silent processing her words. "I know I would never fight with Luke about watching sports or mowing the lawn because he couldn't care about sports on tv, and he likes to mow the lawn. But in the grand scheme of things, those are minor and petty. I would never fight with you about being part of Gigi's life. That is an important thing. I know that you would share every inch of your life with me, without me having to even ask for it."

"You're right. But in fairness to Luke, you've been part of my life since we were six years old. You're already a part of most of the inches of my life. And I've had plenty of time to get used to it."

"Still. I think even if I knew Luke for the next 20 years he wouldn't be willing to share all of his life with me."

"So what are you saying here Lorelai?" he asked, not wanting to screw up by making an assumption.

"I'm saying that I love you, Christopher Straub Hayden, and I want to give us a try one more time. But this time I want to do it right." He could feel his eyes welling up with tears, emotional overflow, as he sat at his counter, trying to process what he'd heard. "Hello, Chris, are you still there?" Lorelai asked nervously after he'd been silent for a while.

"I'm here."

"And…"

"I love you too Lorelai Victoria Gilmore."

"But?" she asked.

"What if you only think it's me? I don't know if my heart can take it if you decide later that it's not really me after all," he explained quietly.

"Oh Christopher," she breathed. He knew she was crying. "It will always be you. I know that now."

"I need to think," he said to her, as much as to himself.

"Okay," she said sullenly.

"I'll see you at your parents anniversary party," he told her, giving both himself and her a timeframe and a deadline.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

Christopher hung up the phone and let the tears he'd been holding back fall as they may.

* * *

Christopher Hayden was finally offered a chance at everything he'd always wanted, and now he didn't know what to do.

* * *

It was noon on Thursday, Logan Huntzberger checked his email once more before he headed off to pick up Colin and Finn at the airport. He hadn't heard from Rory since he'd apologized for his father's behavior. That had been almost a week ago now. He had however, heard from his father twice. True to his word, he answered one of the calls, and let the other go to voicemail, but now instead of deleting the voicemail without even listening to it, he listened to it.

The call he answered, the first call, actually turned out to be his father finding out if Logan would in fact answer the phone. Both men had laughed at the silliness of the situation. The voicemail from the second call had actually needed response and Logan hadn't returned it yet.

_Voicemail: You have one new message. Sent yesterday at 4:14 pm. 'Hey Logan, it's Dad,' _Logan had actually paused the voicemail at that point to stare at his phone in shock, in all of his 25 years, he couldn't remember his father referring to himself as Dad! Something to think on, he hit play again. _'The Gilmore's annual vow renewal is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I was wondering if you were planning to attend. If you are coming, do you want me to tell your mother in advance? Or do you want me to try to convince her not to go?' _Wait, his dad was actually offering to help him out, and try to make things easier on him? Who was this man and what did he do with the real Mitchum Huntzberger? _'Call me back when you get a chance.'_ The phone clicked off.

That call had come in on Tuesday. He'd listened to it the first time on Wednesday morning, but he hadn't decided how to respond. He wished he could talk to Rory about it, but he was still giving her space and didn't want to burden her with the dilemma. He listened to it again as he left his office, trying to decide whether to call his dad from the car, or talk to Finn and Colin first. One way or another he had to call Mitchum back today.

"I'll see you in a week and a half," he told Beth, his assistant, as he headed towards the elevator with his phone pressed to his ear. "You can reach me on my cell if it's an emergency." He wasn't worried about her abusing the power and calling him all the time, he'd talked to Jacob and Michael about his friends visiting, and they'd encouraged him to take the time off, knowing that he would make sure his responsibilities and his clients were taken care of.

"Have a nice vacation Logan," Beth responded.

When he reached the car, he decided that he'd wait to talk to his boys first, after all they did have some experience with his father, and other society parents. He tossed his phone on the passenger seat, cranked up the music and headed towards the private airstrip that he knew Colin would have them flown into.

* * *

He was surprised at the lack of traffic, but then again, he rarely left his office in the middle of the day. The day was beautiful, it was 85 degrees according to the thermostat in the car, there was upbeat music on the radio, and he was on a work sanctioned vacation, not just disappearing for the heck of it only to have his father yell at him later.

"One night and one more time, thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great, he tastes like you only sweeter," Logan sang along with the radio, something he only did when he was alone, knowing his singing voice left a lot to be desired. "One night and one more time, one night and one more time..."

The ringing of his phone cut off the rest of the song. "Huntzberger," he answered.

"Where are you mate? Our plane is here and you are not!" Finn said abruptly.

"Hold your pants on Finn, I'll be there in less than 10 minutes."

"Hurry up! It's bright out here, and I'm too sober," his Australian friend whined.

"And I'm having to listen to Finn whine!" Colin added from the background.

"I'm on the way!" Logan said back with a laugh, then hung up the phone. He couldn't wait to pick up his friends, he really had missed them.

As promised, ten minutes later, Logan drove onto the private airstrip, where he found his two best friends standing next to a pile of suitcases. One was talking on the phone, and the other was trying to hide from the bright sunlight.

"Hey guys!" he called when he climbed out of the car and popped his trunk.

"Finally!" Finn replied with a loud sigh, as though Logan had left them there for hours instead of minutes.

"It's nice to see you too Finn," Logan replied. "Hey Col."

Colin merely held out a hand to silence Logan. "I told you I would be out of the office for the next 10 days," he said to whomever was on the other end. "Yes _Andrew_ is aware of my absence, so get someone else to do it!" He clicked the end call button and looked up at his friends. "Imbeciles! I left the office last night, and they all know I'm on vacation, even my father, and yet they insist on calling me every few hours! I swear I'm going to turn off my phone!" he ranted.

"You really do need the vacation don't you?" Logan said.

"Yes!" Colin replied, then remembered his manners. "Good to see you Huntz," he added, pulling Logan into one of those handshake hug guy things.

"Well vacation officially starts…" Logan paused looking at his watch, letting the second hand come to the next full minute, "now! Colin turn your phone off. Finn get in the car." Colin powered off his phone and Finn climbed into the back seat while Logan threw the suitcases into his trunk. "You two pack like girls!"

"It's all Finn. Only one of those is mine," Colin explained.

"You never know where you're going to meet The One, Mate. I've got to be prepared," Finn told them dryly from his spot in the back seat.

Logan laughed as he slammed his trunk and climbed back into the drivers seat while Colin took the passenger's seat. "So where are we off to first?" Colin asked.

"Well we better stop and get Finn a drink so his mood improves," Logan suggested.

"I second that," Finn added.

Logan headed back towards his neighborhood, knowing the perfect pub to take the guys to for drinks and a bite of lunch.

* * *

It was a quick drive to the pub, funnily enough called Finnegan's. "End of the road, everyone out!" Logan joked when the reached the destination.

"I'm home!" Finn called when he saw the name of the pub. He strode confidently toward the door and kissed it as he entered. "Hello all! You can rest easy now, your beloved name sake is home!" he shouted when they entered the pub.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Colin asked Logan as they walked in behind Finn.

"Come on Col, it'll be fun to watch Finn make an ass of himself."

"That's true."

The two friends snuck into a booth in the corner as Finn strutted around the bar drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Oy! You! The shouting one! What do you think you're doing? You're disturbing the peace in my pub!" a woman yelled from behind the bar. She was tall, and thin, with long red hair. As soon as Finn saw her, his jaw dropped and he stopped in his tracks.

"Your servant milady," he said as he dropped to one knee.

"Get up you fool!" she exclaimed in a hiss.

Logan and Colin tried to stifle their laughs from the corner as they watched Finn and the fiery redhead. "Did you know this place was owned by a redheaded woman?" Colin asked in a hushed voice.

"No. I had no clue! I've never been here. I've been meaning to come, but didn't think I could come here without at least Finn being with me."

Finn finally stood up and held out his hand to the woman. "Finnegan Morgan at your service."

"I'm Bree McKenna and I don't need your service," the pub owner shot back.

"Of course you do!" Finn said boldly, but something in the look she gave him must have made him back off, because soon Logan noticed Finn searching the bar for himself and Colin. "Fine, I'll be off to eat with my friends then," he added.

When he joined them Colin was the first to speak. "The mighty Finn goes down swinging."

"She'll change her mind. I know I'll see her again," Finn informed them.

And he was right, not five minutes later she was standing at their table. "What can I get you fellas to drink?"

"Guinness for me," Logan started.

"Me too," Colin added.

"A shot of your finest Irish whiskey," Finn said.

The pub owner rolled her eyes and headed back to the bar. "I'll bring your drinks back in a sec, then take your order for food."

Logan grabbed the pile of menus left at the end of the table and passed them out so they could all figure out what they wanted to eat. Not more than a minute later all three of them had snapped their menus closed and now all they had to do was wait for their drinks. "So how was the flight in?" Logan asked.

"Fine," Finn answered.

"Have you heard from Rory lately?" Colin asked.

Logan winced involuntarily at his friend's bluntness. "I got an email from her about a week ago. I'll tell you all about it after we order our lunch."

"Are you coming to the anniversary party?" Finn asked.

"Yes," Logan answered, "But I need some advice on that too."

Before another question could be asked, Bree returned with the drinks. "So what do you fellas want to eat?"

"Fish and chips," Colin told her.

"Sheppard's pie," Logan answered.

"Bangers and mash," Finn said with a smile.

"I'll give you bangers and mash," Bree mumbled under her breath. "All right lads, I'll get your order in. Should be about 15 minutes."

"Thanks Love," Finn called after her as she walked away.

"So, tell us about Rory," Colin said as soon as Finn turned his attention back to the table.

"Apparently she ran into my father while she was working. He singled her out and basically made her miserable with her coworkers," Logan paraphrased what happened.

"Poor Reporter Girl," Colin said sympathetically. "Did you let your dad have it for messing with her?"

"Sort of. That's where my anniversary party dilemma comes in," Logan started. "When I called to yell at my dad, we actually had a good conversation."

"You and Mitchum?" Finn asked incredulously.

"Yes, me and Mitchum."

"Weird," Colin said.

"You're telling me. So I'm actually on speaking terms with my dad. And he's not trying to force me to be on good terms with my mom. Listen to this!" Logan grabbed his phone, set it in the middle of the table and played the voicemail from his dad on speakerphone to his friends.

"That is not Mitchum!" Colin exclaimed.

"I know my own father's voice Colin," Logan retorted.

"There must be something in the water in Hartford," Finn suggested.

"So what do I do?" Logan asked, ignoring Finn's suggestion.

"Call Mitchum and tell him to keep Shira at home!" Finn and Colin shouted together, as if Logan was stupid to consider anything else.

"But I kind of want to see my dad," Logan admitted sheepishly.

"So arrange to see him otherwise," Colin said.

"I suppose I could do that."

"Back to Rory!" Finn interjected, wanting to get back to the better part of the story.

"Right. So I emailed her back, apologizing for my dad, and telling her to let me know if I could help at all, and I haven't heard anything. I don't know if things have gotten better, or if they've gotten worse," Logan explained, letting his worries become evident in his voice.

"Just call her and ask her," Colin responded impatiently.

"I can't Col. I'm giving her time and space like she asked, and this would counteract that," Logan told him. Finn nodded in agreement with Logan.

"It's not getting better yet Mate," Finn said solemnly.

"You talked to her?" Logan said louder than he intended.

"A little," Finn admitted.

"Finn! Why are you holding out on us?" Colin asked.

"Would you like me to share your secrets with Stephanie?" Finn asked in return. Colin blustered a bit at the thought and Logan smiled in understanding. As much as he wished his friend would share, he understood why he wouldn't. Finn continued on, "Mate, you've just got to trust that if she needs you, she'll come to you."

"Okay Finn. Now finish your drink, it makes me feel as if my world is in disarray when you're sober and insightful!" Logan teased in response.

Finn smiled and tipped the tumbler of whiskey to his lips, downing it in one gulp. "Ahhh, that's good stuff," he said as he smacked his lips. Colin and Logan laughed in response, and Colin signaled for another round.

The food was delivered shortly, and conversations turned towards lighter topics. "So what do you have planned for our visit Huntz?" Colin asked after he took his first bite of the crispy beer battered fish.

"I was thinking we could do some wine tasting, we could go surfing, we could go hiking, and we could go to Disneyland," Logan shared his plans for the next few days. "And of course we can go out at night and watch Finn try to meet his redheaded soul mate of the week."

"Disneyland?" Colin asked skeptically.

"I haven't been since I was a kid. My dad worked the whole time, my mom drank the whole time, and Honor and I got stuck with the nanny, who refused to wait in lines longer than 10 minutes, so I didn't get to go on any of the good rides," Logan explained. "I thought I could try it again with my two best friends, and our favorite flasks of course!"

"I'm in Mate! Except do we have to hike during the day?" Finn asked, causing the others to laugh.

* * *

After lunch the trio headed to Logan's house, so Colin could unpack and Finn could change his clothes and return to Finnegan's to take another shot at Bree. While the guys were busy, Logan took the opportunity to call his dad back.

"Hello?" Mitchum answered on the second ring.

"Hey Dad," Logan said.

"Thanks for calling me back, I was starting to worry that you weren't going to call."

"Sorry about that. I just needed to figure out how to respond. Colin and Finn arrived today, so I waited until I could ask for their advice."

"I see. And what did you decide?"

"Well, I am coming back for the Gilmore vow renewal. But I'd rather you didn't tell Mom, and if you could keep her away from the event that'd be even better."

"I understand," Mitchum said sullenly.

"But I was hoping the two of us could have lunch while I'm in town," Logan added, sensing a tinge of pain in Mitchum's tone.

"I'd like that."

"Good. Well I'm vacation for the next week or so while the guys are in town, so I probably won't be near the phone. Send me an email with a time and a place and I'll get back to you as soon as I can to confirm."

"Alright son. Enjoy your time with your friends."

"Thanks Dad. I'll talk to you soon."

"Good-bye," Mitchum said, and before he could respond, Logan was met with the silence of a severed connection. He smiled as he hung up the phone, amazed that he was serious when he invited his dad to lunch, and that he was actually looking forward to it.

* * *

The next several days passed in a blur. Wine tasting, hiking, trying to surf, and nightly trips to Finnegan's to appease Finn who decided that Bree was the only one for him. Logan hadn't been called by his office once, and had gotten so relaxed that he'd forgotten to check his email since the night he'd called his dad.

It was Tuesday, the half way point of his friends' visit, and the three of them had decided on a day to relax. Finn was sleeping in, and Colin was in the shower, so Logan decided to check his email and update his Rory file, filling her in on all of the fun they were having. He grabbed a cup of coffee while he was waiting for his laptop to boot up and his emails to download. He found he had 50 new messages, most of which were inconsequential spam. He had one from his father naming a time and place for lunch. Logan read over the details and sent a quick reply to confirm. Then he saw one from Rory.

_From: Rory Gilmore  
To: Logan Huntzberger  
Re: Decisions_

_Hey Logan, _

_I finally came to a decision. I'm miserable here on the trail. These journalists are so nosy, they won't leave me alone! They treat me like I'm worth stalking and it's driving me crazy. They're always watching me, and the room goes quiet whenever I enter it. I have so much more sympathy for celebrities now!  
I miss you. I'm about two seconds away from tendering my resignation and hopping the first flight I can find to get to you. I want us back.  
Love,_

_Rory_

Logan stared at the screen in shock. Rory wanted them to get back together! He'd been waiting for this since the moment Colin, Finn, Honor and Stephanie arrived at his doorstep two months earlier. He read the email again, and he was suddenly filled with doubt. Did she really want him back, or was she just trying to escape a horrible situation? Logan knew what it felt like to be stalked by the press and wouldn't wish that on anyone, and he knew it must be worse for her being surrounded by them all the time, but was her quitting and running back to him really the answer. He had to think. He couldn't respond right away. He shut the lid to his laptop and headed to the kitchen to add something stronger to his coffee.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger was finally offered a chance at everything he'd always wanted, and now he didn't know what to do.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it's been so long again. But, you should know that my new years resolution is to finish this story (and The Light of Day). This story only has probably one more chapter and then an epilogue left (if you want an epilogue). **

**As usual, I don't own Gilmore Girls, or Disneyland, or Sleeping Beauty. The song Logan is singing in the car is THNKS FR TH MMRS by Fall Out Boy. I completely made up The Broomstick Inn in Salem and Finnegan's Pub in Palo Alto (any real places of similarity that exist are merely coincidence). **

**Please read and review, and thank you so much for all of the story alerts and favorites. If you have any questions as to my motives please feel free to leave questions in your reviews or send me PMs and I'll happily answer them. **

**Thanks for reading-**

**S**


	15. Chapter 15 The Anniversary Party

**AN: This is the last actual chapter – as such, instead of being half Logan half Christopher, it switches back and forth to try to stick to the time line. (I will try to split the content half and half though.)

* * *

**

Logan Huntzberger stared at the closed laptop sitting on his coffee table, and grabbed it quickly, wrenching it open again. He restarted his email program and re-read the most recent email he'd received from Rory Gilmore. Even after two cups of coffee, one of which had a healthy shot of liquor in it, he still couldn't believe the words on the screen in front of him. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. He headed up the stairs to the guest room Finn was sleeping in to get a different perspective.

"Finn! Wake up!" he said loudly as he entered the guest room. Finn was sprawled out on his stomach, sleeping diagonally across the bed.

"Wha?" Finn mumbled rolling towards the sound of Logan's voice.

"Keep your covers on, I don't want to see Finn Jr. this morning," Logan advised him with a laugh.

"What's going on Mate?" Finn asked as he rubbed his eyes and sat up in the bed, holding his covers in place to protect Logan's modesty.

"Have you talked to Rory since you've been here?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Logan asked in an accusatory voice.

"Yes Mate, I'm sure!" Finn spat back.

"You have to come read this email I got from her."

"Now? It's still light out!"

"Finn!" Logan yelled as he turned around and headed to the bedroom Colin was using to see if he was dressed from his shower.

"I'm coming," Finn grumbled. "There better be coffee and pastries."

"Logan, what's going on?" Colin asked, sticking his head out of the bathroom door before Logan could get to the bedroom.

"I got an email from Rory."

"I'll be right down," Colin told him, and then headed into the bedroom to dress. While Logan waited for Colin and Finn to come downstairs, he poured them each a cup of coffee and set them on the coffee table next to his laptop.

"Well?" Colin said as he entered the room.

"Just read it for yourself." Logan pointed to the open laptop.

Colin sat down and started reading, and by the time he'd finished the email Finn and arrived and started to read. The trio remained silent until Finn had finished reading, and Colin had read it a second time.

"Mate, what's the big deal? This is exactly what you want!" Finn told him.

"I know!" Logan said. "But…" he trailed off.

"It seems wrong," Colin finished.

"Exactly!" Logan began to pace in the living room as his friends occupied the couch. "What if this is like the yacht all over again? What if she's just trying to escape? We know just how well the yacht turned out!"

"Calm down Logan," Finn started, "Love's not the same innocent girl she was two years ago."

"Still, it would really suck to fall back into old patterns only to find out months later that she's miserable," Colin added his two cents.

"What do I do?" Logan asked.

"You have to find out if this is what she really wants, or if this is just a way to get away from the vultures," Colin instructed.

"I still think you should trust her," Finn said.

"I've got to email her back," Logan said, as he continued to pace.

"We'll get out of your way. Come on Finn let's go get some breakfast," Colin replied.

"Thanks."

With his friends gone, Logan sat down in front of his email and hit reply.

_To: Rory Gilmore  
From: Logan Huntzberger  
Re: Decisions_

_Rory,_

_I don't know what to say here. Your email is everything I've been waiting for, and yet somehow I feel like it's wrong. Like you're taking the easy way out of a bad situation. I love you. I want to be with you. But I don't want to be your escape route. _

Logan read over what he'd written and wondered if it sounded too harsh. He most certainly didn't want to push Rory away, but he knew his heart couldn't take it if he was right, and she was just running away. He knew there was no guarantees in life, even if he and Rory got back together, some day, down the road, they may split again, but he wouldn't walk into a relationship fearing it's failure from the start. He started typing again.

_I want us to be together because it's what we both want, and what will be the best for both of us. _

The new email indicator chimed, and gave Logan a good reason to distract himself. He was surprised to see Rory's name in his inbox yet again.  
_To: Logan Huntzberger  
From: Rory Gilmore  
Re: I wish there was an email recall button_

_Logan, _

_I'm sorry to say that I wish I could take my last email back. After sleeping on the situation, I find that things are not nearly so drastic in the morning light. This is not to say that I don't love you. I do. Nor to say that I don't want to be with you… I'm still working on that. I just know that us getting back together can't be a knee-jerk reaction to a shitty situation. I'm sorry if I've hurt you by my actions. Hopefully I'll still see you at the anniversary party. _

_Love,  
Rory_

Logan read her email twice, not knowing if he wanted to laugh or cry. He didn't know how long sat and stared at the screen, but he was broken from his thoughts by Finn and Colin returning from breakfast.

"Huntz, we brought you a bagel and cream cheese," Colin said. "You okay there?"

"Got another email from Rory," Logan replied numbly.

"And?" Finn asked anxiously.

"Read it." Logan turned the screen so his friends could read the email, and stood up, taking the bag with his breakfast in it to the kitchen table. He chuckled lightly as he sat down at the table, remembering the last time he'd sat there. Colin, Finn, Stephanie and Honor had been there for an intervention. He sliced the onion bagel in half, and smeared the jalapeno cream cheese on it. He took the first bite and waited for the guys to join him.

"Wow," Colin started as he pulled out the chair across from Logan and settled himself into it.

"Did you already reply to her prior message?" Finn asked.

Logan finished chewing the bite in his mouth before responding. "I was mid response, I used the incoming email as a distraction."

"Well at least you didn't say anything _you_ can't take back," Colin told him.

"So do I respond? Or just let it go and see her at the anniversary party?"

"Her last email didn't really call for a response," Finn pointed out.

"You're not heart broken over her recall email – you were afraid that's what would happen anyhow," Colin reminded him.

"So I just pretend it didn't happen?" Finn and Colin nodded in unison. "We might need to hit the pub a little earlier than usual tonight."

"Can do Mate," Finn replied with a smile, likely eager to try out whatever new moves he could find on Bree anyhow.

"What ever you need man," Colin added supportively.

* * *

Christopher Hayden spent the two weeks between his phone call with Lorelai at The Broomstick and the Gilmore's anniversary party in an emotional state of flux. His emotions ranged from blissful and elated – Lorelai loved him, to miserable and insecure –wondering if that love would last? He did his best to go on with his life as usual: get up, take care of Gigi, go to work, come home and spend time with Gigi, but the second that he had a free moment, it was consumed with thoughts of Lorelai.

It was the morning of the party, and Christopher lay in bed, wide awake, at 6:00 am. He berated himself for what felt like the millionth time for insisting that he take some time and think about what she'd said and what those words meant. Christopher was usually a risk taker. Jump on in feet first with out any hesitation. Why was this the one time in his life that he didn't take the risk? Why was this the time he hesitated? He sighed deeply, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and decided he might as well get the day started. His plan for the day was simple, take Gigi to breakfast, get a haircut, pick up his tuxedo from the dry cleaners, and try to remain busy yet relaxed before the party, knowing once he got there he'd be a nervous wreck, at least until he talked to Lorelai. He stood under his shower wracking his brain trying to come up with anything else he needed to do, or could do, that would distract him. There was nothing.

When the water ran cold he toweled off and headed into his closet to find something to wear. He decided to forgo his usual shave and just let the barber do a hot shave when he got his haircut. It was Saturday morning, and he really just wanted to pull on his faded sweats and an undershirt, but since he planned to leave the house, he had to put on actual clothes. He tugged on a pair of semi faded jeans and pulled on the Yale tee shirt Rory bought him the Christmas before. Good enough. By the time he was finished he could hear Gigi stirring in her room.

"Morning Sweetie," he greeted when he opened her door.

She yawned and rubbed at her eyes. "Hi Daddy."

"You want to go out to breakfast this morning?"

"Can we get waffles with whipped cream?" she asked, before answering him.

"I suppose we can do that."

"Yay!" She leapt out of bed ran straight into her closet. It was less than a minute later that she reappeared in a hot pink sweatshirt and purple plaid shorts. The combination was so bright it hurt his eyes.

"That's what you want to wear today G?"

Her face fell. At almost five she was just starting to develop a sense of fashion and dressing herself. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's just a little… bright. But you look fine. Do you want me to put your hair up in a ponytail?"

"Braid!"

"Okay, come here." She grabbed her brush off the dresser and came and stood in front of him. He used the brush to untangle her blonde hair. Once it was de-tangled, he divided it into three sections and braided it. It wasn't a French braid, nor was it particularly pretty, but it would work to keep her hair out of her face, and out of the whipped cream from her breakfast.

"Let's go!" Gigi instructed him eagerly.

They got into the car and Christopher headed into the outskirts of Boston for a family style diner he knew served Belgian waffles with fruit and whipped cream for breakfast.

Breakfast was as delicious as he'd remembered. Gigi had the waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, and he had one of those farm style breakfasts that had eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast, along with a steamy cup of hot coffee. Afterwards, he began his errands. Surprisingly, Gigi was patient with the dry cleaner and watched with curiosity as the barber wrapped her father's face in a hot towel, then added a thick layer of fluffy shaving cream, before sharpening his straight razor and beginning the shave.

"Do me next!" she said, when the barber was finished with her father.

"Gigi, girls don't shave their faces," Christopher told her with a laugh.

"Sure, hop up kid," the barber told her. Christopher looked at him with surprise. "I get this all the time."

Gigi hopped up into the chair her father just vacated, and the barber wrapped her face in a warm towel for a few minutes. Then applied a small amount of lotion to her face instead of the shaving cream. "All done," he told her when he'd rubbed all of the lotion in.

"Okay!" she exclaimed happily as she jumped off the chair.

Christopher was grateful that she wasn't demanding that he use the razor on her face as well. "Are you ready to head home?" he asked his daughter.

"You bet! I can't wait to tell Molly."

Christopher chuckled and turned to the barber. "How much do I owe you?"

"It'll be $30.00 for the shave and the haircut."

"What about her?" Christopher asked quietly inclining his head towards Gigi who was now trying to count all of the pink gumballs in the gumball machine.

"Don't worry about it, it was fun," the barber told him.

"Who knows, maybe now we can play barber shop instead of dress up at home," Chris joked. The older man laughed as Chris handed him a pair of twenties. "Keep the change. Come on G, let's get going."

"Can we go shopping instead of home?" she asked.

"What do you want to shop for?"

"Princess stories!" she exclaimed eagerly.

"Sure, we can do that."

After two hours at the bookstore, and a stack of new books later, Gigi was still enamored with the trip to the barbershop. She spent the drive home rubbing her face, then reaching forward from the back seat to rub her fathers face, apparently comparing the relative smoothness. "Wow Daddy, your face is as soft as mine!"

"Is my face usually not soft?" he asked curiously.

"Mostly it's scratchy."

Once he pulled into the garage, Gigi got out of the car and headed into the house to find Molly. When Christopher entered the house he could hear Gigi giving her the play by play of the trip to the barbershop.

"Hey Mr. H, your haircut looks great," Molly commented when he walked past them in the living room.

"Thanks. Apparently my face is now as smooth as Gigi's too." He stopped to talk to them for a moment.

"Do you have everything for your party tonight?" Molly asked.

"Yep. Just picked up the tux."

"We're going to a party?" Gigi asked excitedly.

"No Sweetie, I'm going to a party," Christopher told her gently.

"You get to stay here and have a slumber party with me!" Molly exclaimed feigning enthusiasm.

"But I want to go the party!" Gigi cried.

"It's for grown ups, you can't go."

"Then can I stay up until you come home?" Gigi asked.

"I'm not going to be home until tomorrow," he explained. Christopher knew that one way or another he wouldn't make it home to Boston after the party. If things went well, he'd get to spend some time with Lorelai, if things went poorly, he'd spend the night in a bar drinking his sorrows away.

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"Probably at Grandma Francine's house."

"Can I stay the night at Grandma's house too then?" she asked eagerly.

"Sorry Sweetie, Grandma's going to the party too, so no one will be there to watch you. Besides, I bet Molly has all sorts of fun things planned for you guys to do tonight. I bet you won't even notice that I'm gone."

Molly tried to help him out. "I do have fun things planned for us to do."

"Like what?" Gigi asked suspiciously.

"Well I brought cookie dough so we could make some sugar cookies. I brought some dress up clothes so we can play princess, and I brought some new story books."

Gigi looked slightly more impressed by this, but she didn't seem completely reassured. "Can't you stay home Daddy?"

"I said I was going, so I have to go. You wouldn't like it if I promised you I'd do something, then I didn't, would you?"

"No," she pouted.

"Besides, I may have a surprise for you when I get back," he teased, hoping that Rory would be in town long enough to come see her little sister.

"Really? What?" The pout was gone, and now replaced with a hopeful smile.

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it? Go play with Molly, I'm going to go get ready. I'll come kiss you good bye before I go."

Gigi ran off towards her room to get her toys, but Molly hung back for a moment. "Have you been having any problems with Gigi lately? She's been extra clingy to me," Christopher asked curiously.

"No sir. I mean, lately she's been super excited for you to get home, but other than that, she's the same as ever."

"Okay then. Well I'm going to go get ready."

* * *

Christopher hung his tux on the back of his bedroom door, and stripped out of the clothes he'd thrown on earlier. He decided on a quick shower, to get rid of any stray hairs left behind by the barber, then began dressing. He pulled on his socks, boxers, and undershirt, then started digging through the top drawer of his dresser, in search of the box that he kept his studs and cufflinks in. He had more than one set, so he came across several boxes that had been tucked away under his undershirts and handkerchiefs. The first set he came across was the set his mother bought him when he married Sherry. Simple black studs, with matching onyx links. The second set was the set his father bought him when he graduated from college: Princeton orange and black studs with the college emblem on the links. The third set was the set Lorelai bought him for junior prom, skulls on the studs, and the Aerosmith logo etched into the links. He felt around in the drawer to make sure he wasn't missing any, and came up with two more boxes. One was another set of studs and links, the ones his mother gave him after his father's death. The ones his father had worn all of Christopher's life: silver studs and a monogrammed H in the links.

The other box was one he'd forgotten about. He flipped it open to find a cheesy gold band with a large round 'mood stone' attached. He pulled the ring out of the box and polished the band on his undershirt, then, to see if it still worked, he slid the ring onto his finger. It barely fit over the first joint on his pinky, but after sitting there for a little while, the stone began to change from it's original black to a deep bluish-purple color. He smiled at the memory of the ring, and slid it off his finger and back into the box, which he set on top of his dresser.

He finally decided on wearing his father's cuff links and studs. His mother would appreciate the gesture, and while Lorelai would love the skulls and Aerosmith set, Emily would not, and it was Emily's party after all. He pulled on his slacks and his tuxedo shirt. He slid the studs into place with practiced ease, and then moved on to the links. When they were securely in place he tied his tie and slipped on the vest and jacket. He checked himself out in the full length mirror, and deciding he looked okay, slipped the jewelry box from the dresser into his pocket and headed on his way.

He paused outside of Gigi's room, listening to her and Molly play tea party. He opened the door to find Gigi in a pink frilly dress with pearls, heels and a hat on, and Molly in a hat, scarf and gloves. "I'm heading out Gigi, come give me a kiss goodbye."

Gigi jumped up and ran over to him. "You look pretty Daddy!" she told him. "Like a prince!"

"Thanks Gigi," he said, trying not to laugh at his daughter's compliment.

"You look very dashing Mr. H," Molly told him.

"Thanks," he replied dryly. "You two have a good time tonight, and I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

It was the day of the anniversary party, and Logan Huntzberger was sitting in his limo, afraid to get out. He wasn't at the party yet. No, he had just arrived at the restaurant he was due to meet his father at for lunch. He and Mitchum had been doing okay for the last few weeks. Logan was doing his part by answering and returning phone calls and emails, and Mitchum was doing his part by not calling as often as he used to, and not pressuring his son to return to HPG. But that was all over the phone, and Logan was worried that the man he was having lunch with today was not that Mitchum, but the Mitchum who dragged him away from Valentine's Day at Martha's Vineyard with his girlfriend for an unnecessary trip to London. As much as he wanted this new tentative relationship with his father to work, he was expecting the worst.

"We're here Sir," the driver said again. "Did you need help getting out of the car?"

"No. Sorry, I'm going," Logan replied with a sigh. He pushed the door open and stepped out into the humid Hartford air. He looked at the restaurant his father chose, and was glad he'd stopped and changed his clothes after breakfast with the guys. Jeans and a tee shirt would not have fit in at all. Instead he was wearing khakis and a light polo shirt, while he might still be slightly underdressed, that would hopefully be forgiven due to the heat wave.

He walked into the restaurant and glanced around for his father. "May I help you?" the hostess asked in a breathy voice. He looked at her and she batted her eyelashes.

"Huntzberger. There are probably reservations," he told her.

He watched as she ran her finger down a page of reservations. "Oh yes, the rest of your party is here. I'll show you back."

The rest of his party? He followed the hostess with a slight amount of trepidation. As they neared his destination he heard his father's familiar voice.

"The rest of your party Mr. Huntzberger," the hostess told Mitchum when they arrived at the table.

"Hello Son, have a seat," his father instructed. His companion was obscured by the table, as she had bent down for some reason. Logan could tell it was a woman, but just not whom.

"Hey Dad," he said nervously, taking his seat. He watched the back of the woman sitting across from him, waiting for her to sit up.

"Logan, hi!" the voice said from under the table.

"Honor!" he exclaimed, happy to find out who he was dining with. "Why are you under the table?"

"I dropped an earring," she told him. "Got it!" she exclaimed sitting back up.

"I hope you don't mind, I invited your sister," Mitchum said.

"No, that's great." Logan genuinely smiled.

"So how was the flight in?" Mitchum asked.

"Flying commercial is always the same," Logan told him with a shrug.

"So what are you in town for?" Honor asked. "Daddy just invited me to lunch this morning, I didn't even know you'd be here!"

"The Gilmore's Anniversary Party," Logan said as he started studying the menu, suddenly worried about his sister's response.

"Are you and Rory finally working things out?" she asked eagerly.

"I hope so," he admitted.

"Are you and Mom going to the party?" Honor asked her father. Logan waited for the answer, hoping his father had managed to talk his mother out of going.

"Well, that's why I invited you to lunch Honor. I'm trying to help your brother out by getting your mother out of his way, and I'm hoping you'll help too."

Logan couldn't believe his ears, his dad was actually still planning to help him. "So what's the plan?" he asked, trying to cover his surprise.

"Well, I tried just telling your mother that I didn't want to go. But she wants to go. Some new dress to show off or something." Mitchum sighed, and Logan felt the disappointment start to creep in. "So I was thinking that maybe Honor, you and Josh could go in our place."

"How does that keep Mom from going?" Honor asked.

Mitchum coughed. "I've… uhm… *cough, cough*… come down with something," he explained with a smile.

"A cold Dad? Surely Mom will hand you some cough medicine and shove you into your tuxedo," Logan scoffed in response.

"I fully intend for it to be stomach pains, perhaps related to something I ate," Mitchum replied.

Logan burst out laughing, and Honor joined in. Pretty soon Mitchum was laughing too. The sound of his father laughing was sobering. Logan couldn't remember the last time he'd heard his father actually laugh. Usually he chuckled when one of his devious plans was coming together. Or he cackled when he knew something someone else didn't. Or he gave a polite fake laugh when he was supposed to laugh at something. But this was an all out laugh.

"Are you okay Logan?" his father asked, when he'd regained his composure.

"Yeah. I just… I don't think I've ever heard you really laugh," he admitted.

"Oh certainly that's not true."

"No Dad, I think Logan's right, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh either," Honor added.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to consider that going forward. Shall we order?" he asked changing the subject.

The three Huntzbergers looked at their menus and within moments the waitress arrived. Logan ordered a sandwich, Honor ordered a salad, and Mitchum ordered some seafood, because it could potentially be blamed for stomach pains later.

Lunch was filled with polite conversation. Honor filled him in on her life with Josh. Mitchum filled him in on the ongoings at HPG, surprisingly without making a mention of Logan returning, as well as the latest with his grandfather and his mother. In turn Logan told them about California. About his work. About his recent visit with Finn and Colin. And surprisingly, even to himself, about Rory. By the end of lunch, he was almost sad to see them go.

"Tonight," Mitchum started, "Honor, you and Josh should be prepared to go to the Gilmore's. I'll have your mother call you and beg you to go in our place because I'm violently ill."

"And if that doesn't work?" Logan asked.

"Well, if that doesn't work, your mother and I will see you tonight, and you'll know that I tried my damnedest to help you out."

"Okay. Honor I hope to see you tonight. Dad, I hope to see you on my next visit," Logan told them as he stood up. He hugged his sister just in case he didn't see her later, and did the handshake/one-armed hug with his father.

"Good luck tonight, Logan," his father called after him as he headed for the door.

* * *

Christopher Hayden parked his car in the assigned lot, which was rapidly filling up, and walked around to the other side to help his mother out of the passenger seat. On the drive over, he'd given Francine the Cliff's Notes version of what was going on with him and Lorelai, and she'd smiled sympathetically and surprisingly offered no advice.

"In case I forgot to mention it earlier, you look lovely tonight Mother," he said as he shut the car door behind her.

"Thank you Dear. It is nice to get out and dress up every once and a while isn't it?"

"I suppose you're right."

They were headed across the parking lot when Francine suddenly slowed down.

"Are you okay?" Christopher asked. While his mother was in good health, his father's death had been quite sudden, and that caused him to worry about his mother going equally as quickly.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I just wanted to have a bit of a chat with you before we went in."

"We talked in the car."

"Yes I know. And I held my tongue as to your current situation. But the more I think about it, the more I must at least say this one thing."

He sighed deeply, knowing how his mother felt about Lorelai over the years, he wasn't at all sure he wanted to know what the one thing she had to say was. "Go ahead Mother." He tried to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"You and Lorelai belong together."

"Excuse me?" he asked, surprised.

"You do!"

"I think so, but I'm surprised that you do."

"You're like two puzzle pieces though."

"Puzzle pieces?" he said, unsure of her analogy.

"Each of your sides are slightly different, and you keep trying to fit the wrong sides together. If you take your time and work it out slowly, you'll be a perfect fit."

"Ohhh-kay," he said slowly. "Thanks for the advice." He began walking towards the entrance with his mother on his arm.

"You mark my words, you and Lorelai are meant to be," she said again. She smiled at him and they continued towards the doors.

When they stepped into the building the doorman took their coats and directed them into the reception room.

"You go find our seats Mom, I'm going to look around a minute."

"Alright Christopher." He watched as she signed the guest book and picked up her place card with the table number on it before he headed off in the other direction.

* * *

It wasn't long before Christopher found himself in the same position he was in exactly three years earlier. Seated on a couch in a random room, with a Scotch in his hand.

"Hey Dad." He looked up when he heard Rory's voice and smiled as she approached him.

"Hey Kid. Looking good," he commented on her outfit. "Glad to see you're getting some use out of your tux."

"Yeah, well, Logan…" she trailed off.

"Is Logan coming tonight?" Christopher asked.

"I don't know." She came over and sat next to him on the couch, and he put an arm around her shoulder.

"Why don't you know?"

"Oh Dad. I screwed up."

"How could you possibly screw up?"

"You know all the problems I've been having on the road right?" she asked, and he nodded in response. "Well, one night, after a really bad day, I emailed Logan and told him that I missed him and that I wanted to quit being on the road and come live with him in Palo Alto."

"Isn't that exactly what he wants?" Christopher asked, slightly confused.

"I don't know. Before he responded, I emailed him again to take it back," she told him quietly. Rory blushed and looked down at her hands.

"Oh Sweetheart," he said consolingly. He pulled her into a full hug.

"And now I don't know if he's still coming, or if he never wants to see me again," she murmured into his chest.

"You haven't heard from him at all since then?"

"Nope."

"What about those friends of his, Colin and Finn?"

"No. I tried to call Finn, but it went straight to voicemail. I didn't leave a message. I don't want to get between Logan and his friends."

"I'm sure he'll show up Rory. He's crazy about you."

"I hope you're right. So how are things with you and Mom?" she asked.

Christopher shrugged in response, not knowing what to tell her. "I may have screwed that up," he finally admitted. "I guess I'll know by the end of the night."

Rory hugged him. "Either way, we'll both be fine, right?" she asked for reassurance.

"Right!" he said with a note of brightness he definitely did not feel.

"Well I suppose we'd better get to the party or Grandma will have our heads," Rory said, extricating herself from her fathers arms and standing up.

"Help your old man up?" he asked, extending his hand to her.

"Sure." She took his hand and pulled him into a standing position.

"Shall we?" He offered her his arm.

"We shall." She took his arm and they headed into the reception.

While they walked towards the reception he decided to ask, "How long are you going to be in town?"

"I'm not sure, probably until Monday morning."

"You want to have lunch tomorrow with your sister? She'd love to see you," he asked trying to fulfill the potential surprise for Gigi.

"Let's see how tonight goes first," she replied with a wink and smile.

* * *

Upon entering the room, Christopher searched for Lorelai. Not finding her, he headed towards the table his mother was seated at, with Rory still on his arm. All of the sudden Rory jerked to a halt.

"He's here!" she whispered.

Christopher looked at her, then followed her line of sight to see Logan Huntzberger standing at the bar. "Go get him Kid!"

"Thanks Dad," she replied, as she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "See you later."

He smiled as he watched her walk to Logan, and hoped it would all work out for her. Then he continued to his table to take a seat next to his mother.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket as he stepped out of the limousine that had just arrived at the Rose Room. He pulled the phone out to see a text message from his sister _Josh and I are on the way! _He smiled, grateful that his dad had come through for him, and happy to spend a little more time with his sister.

He entered the building and the doorman directed him to the proper room, as if he didn't already know. He signed the guestbook, and grabbed his place card, but instead of finding his way to his table, he made his way to the bar for a drink instead.

"Can I get a Scotch neat?" he asked the bartender.

"Sure."

As he waited for his drink he sent his father a quick thank you email. The bartender set his drink in front of him, and as he picked it up, he glanced around the room. He saw Rory and her father come in. She was wearing the tuxedo. That had to be a sign. He felt his lips turn upward involuntarily as he took a sip of his drink. She hadn't noticed him yet, so he took another moment to text Colin and Finn and let them know about the development. When he looked up again, he noticed that she was heading straight for him.

When they made eye contact, she smiled a smile that lit her entire face. He couldn't help but grin like a fool in return.

"Glad you could make it," she said casually when she reached him.

"Well, I had such a good time last time I was here that I couldn't resist the chance of a repeat performance," he replied equally casually. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Champagne?" she suggested.

"The whole bottle?"

"Sure, why not."

"Sir, could I get a bottle of champagne please?" he asked the bartender.

"Uh," the bartender stalled.

"Miss Gilmore here is the happy couple's granddaughter, she just wants to do something nice for them," Logan added, hoping to help the bartender along.

"Oh, of course!"

Rory laughed as the bartender handed Logan a bottle of champagne and a pair of flutes. Logan couldn't control himself as his heartbeat accelerated.

"I've missed that sound Ace," he said quietly.

"Should we find our way to a dressing room?" Rory asked him in a husky voice.

"Lead the way."

Logan followed Rory out a side door of the dining room and down the hall into another door which turned out to be a small sitting room.

"I never thought a tuxedo could be so sexy," he told her as the door closed behind them.

"The same could be said about yours Mr. Huntzberger. Are you going to open that champagne?"

"Yes ma'am." Logan set to work opening the bottle with practiced hands. The cork didn't fly off, nor did the bottle overflow.

"I didn't know if you'd be here tonight," Rory said quietly as she accepted the flute of champagne he offered. He leaned against the desk he set the bottle on, while she settled onto the small sofa.

"I told you I'd be here," he said, surprised that she would doubt him.

"But that was before my awful email retraction."

"Truth?" he asked.

She nodded.

"I was grateful to see your retraction."

"What?" she said, almost angrily.

"Hear me out," he started. She nodded again. "When I got your other email, I was so excited, it was exactly what I wanted to hear. But then I got worried. What if this was the yacht all over again? What if you came to live with me, and then resented me for it?"

"I see your point," she admitted, somewhat begrudgingly. "I had those same thoughts myself, which is why I sent the retraction. I can't be mad that you might feel the same way."

They sipped their champagne in silence for a few moments.

"So," Logan started hesitantly, "did you ever make a decision about us?"

Rory chuckled, "I never thought I'd see the great Logan Huntzberger nervous."

He glared at her, and waited for her to answer.

"I think I've made a decision."

"And?" he said anxiously.

"I'm not sure how it's going to work yet, I haven't figured out the logistics or anything, I figure I shouldn't do that part alone."

Was she saying what he thought she was saying? "Rory, I'm sorry, but I need you to say it. I don't want to screw up anything by making assumptions."

"Yes my little work-dork! I want to give us another try!" she finally came out and said it.

He set his glass down and crossed the room, pulling her into his arms roughly.

"Logan, my drink!" she squeaked as he crushed her to his chest. He grabbed the drink from her hand and tossed it aside, not caring about the liquid or the glass. "Logan!" she scolded.

"Don't care right now," he said. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tightly. "I was worried that I'd never get to do this again."

"Oh Logan," she said in her exhale as she wrapped her own arms around him.

He took half a step backwards, and moved his hands to her face so he could kiss her properly. "I love you so much," he whispered into her mouth.

"I love you too."

* * *

Christopher Hayden scanned the room for what felt like the hundredth time, looking for Lorelai. He had watched Rory and Logan sneak out a side door with a bottle of champagne and that brought a smile to his face. He wanted his daughter to find happiness.

He made small talk with his mother as he looked around. She told him about the latest Hartford gossip, even if he didn't know the people involved anymore, and he nodded along politely.

"Christopher, why don't you go get another drink dear?" his mother said.

He looked down at the empty glass that he'd been absently swirling the ice around in. "Would you like something?" he asked.

"A white wine spritzer would be lovely," she told him.

He got up and headed to the bar, as he approached, he smelled a familiar odor that caused him to quicken his pace. Aunt Totsie was here. He chuckled to himself at the memory of Gigi's dance recital and promising Lorelai that he would make sure she was Totsie'd twice, and wondered if he'd get a chance to make that happen.

"Can I get a scotch on the rocks and white wine spritzer?" he asked the bartender.

"Sure."

Christopher waited for his drinks and glanced around the room again. Aunt Totsie was coming towards him.

"Christopher, darling! How are you? I'm surprised to see you here," she started as she approached.

"Hey Totsie. How are you?" he said hoping his drinks would arrive so he'd have an excuse to leave before she got close enough to hug him.

"Oh I'm well enough. The arthritis is starting to act up in my knee," she began as many older people do, listing off her ailments.

"Oh look, there's Lorelai," Christopher said aloud as he saw her enter the room. He hadn't meant to say it aloud, but it did manage to redirect Totsie mid course. He grabbed his drinks and headed back to his table. He delivered his mother's drink and sat down to watch as Lorelai tried to escape her Totsie experience.

* * *

The remainder of the table had filled up as he watched, and he was soon sucked into conversations with those sitting around him.

"You suck!" he heard an angry voice whisper in his ear.

"Why Totsie, I never thought I'd hear something like that from you," he replied quietly. Lorelai smacked him on the shoulder. "Well I owed you one." He pulled out the chair next to him so she could have a seat. "How'd you get seated at my table?"

"I messed with my mother's seating chart," she admitted with a grin.

"So how have you been?"

"Busy. You?"

"Also busy. And well… distracted," he added.

"Look," Lorelai whispered as she pointed across the room. He followed her finger to find Logan and Rory sneaking back into the room, holding hands and grinning like fools. Rory made eye contact with him and he couldn't help but flash her a thumbs up and big smile. Her grin burst into a full on smile.

"Looks like they made up," he said.

"Looks like."

Before either one of them could say anything else, the sound of a fork tapping on the side of a glass rang out, quieting the entire room. Everyone looked up to find Richard Gilmore standing at the head table.

"Thank you all for coming tonight! This is a very special night to Emily and me and we're so glad all of you could be here to celebrate it with us." Everyone applauded. "And since it is our night, we have decided to do things a little out of order."

The crowd started to murmur, wondering what the etiquette queen Emily Gilmore would do possibly do out of order.

"It's nothing scandalous," Emily chimed in, knowing her contemporaries. "We just thought we'd dance while the wait staff is delivering dinner."

Richard cued the band and some classic standard Christopher couldn't identify started to play. "We'd be honored if all the other happy couples out there would join us for the dance," Richard said before pulling his wife onto the dance floor and into his arms.

Chris watched as several other couples got up to join the dancing, including Rory and Logan.

"Shall we?" he asked Lorelai.

"Really?" Lorelai asked in return.

"Sure. We can talk while we dance." He stood and extended his hand to her. She took it, and he led her onto the dance floor.

They danced the first song in relative silence. "You're pretty good at this," Lorelai said.

"Well, only with you. We have had a lot of practice."

Lorelai laughed lightly, then sobered quickly. "Have you done any thinking since the last time we talked?" she asked quickly.

"Why do you think I've been so distracted lately?"

"And?"

"You were right. We didn't do it right last time. I want one more chance. I want to do it right," he told her. He stopped dancing and pulled the ring box out of his pocket handing it to her.

"Christopher! This is not the right way!" she hissed.

"Would you just open the box?" The crowd around them had stopped dancing and were now staring at the box in Lorelai's hand.

Lorelai gripped the box in one hand, and grabbed Christopher by the other, pulling him out into the hall.

"It's not what you're afraid it is, Lore," he said when they reached some relative privacy.

"Oh," she replied. She opened the box. She pulled out the ring and fingered the stone for a moment before she said anything. "Is this a mood ring?"

"It is."

"I've always wanted one of these!" she exclaimed. "Emily wouldn't let me get one, she said they were tacky."

"I know."

"How long have you had this?" she asked.

"I found it this morning. But I've had it for years."

"Why?" she asked. He could see her eyes brighten with the telltale sign of tears.

"I bought it for you for your 16th birthday, knowing that you wanted one. But before I could give it to you, we found out about Rory, and I thought that any kind of ring at that time would say the wrong thing," he confessed.

"I can't believe you kept it."

He shrugged, and she threw her arms around him.

"So, will you wear my ring?" he asked.

She nodded. He took the ring from her, and slipped it on her right hand, to make sure no one got the wrong idea.

"I love you Lorelai Gilmore," he said as he kissed the back of the hand he'd just put the ring on.

"I love you too," she replied. She grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him.

* * *

Richard Gilmore pulled his wife a little closer and started to whisper in her ear, "Emily look." She started to turn her head to look but instead Richard spun her around in dance.

Logan and Rory were happily wrapped up in a dance, staring into each others eyes so deeply the room could be on fire around them and they likely wouldn't notice.

"Oh Richard, I'm so happy," Emily told him.

"Look again," he said, spinning her again just in time to see Christopher and Lorelai reenter the room, holding hands and giggling.

"Best. Anniversary. Ever," Emily whispered. "Do you think they can make it work this time?"

"You know what Emily, I really do," Richard told her confidently. "I really do."

* * *

The End

* * *

**AN: So there you have it. Winning Back The Gilmore Girls has finally come to a close. **

**As usual, I don't own Gilmore Girls, or anything else you recognize. **

**Please review and tell me what you think - Also, if you'd like an epilogue, I might have one up my sleeve, so leave me your opinion in the review. (Even if your opinion is 'no epilogue'.)**

**Thank you all so much for reading! **

**S**


	16. Chapter 16 Epilogue

**10 Months Later**

Christopher Hayden nervously paced in the small room. He couldn't believe the day had finally come. Sure it had been over 20 years in the making, but he still couldn't help being excited and nervous at the same time.

"Christopher stop pacing," he heard a voice from outside the door say. He smiled, and took the advice, sitting down on an uncomfortable chair. He picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip, smiling as he always did when he drank coffee.

He couldn't believe how much had changed in the past 10 months.

* * *

He'd spent the night of Richard and Emily's Anniversary Party with Lorelai in Stars Hollow. They'd spent half the night talking, and the other half making love, and making up for lost time.

When he returned to Boston the following day, it was with the promise of calling her when he got home. He kept the relationship secret from Gigi until they could come up with a game plan, which meant instead of seeing Lorelai every night like he wanted to, they spent many late nights on the phone, just as they had when they were teenagers.

After a month of late night calls and sick days from work so they could play hooky together, they finally told Gigi – who was ecstatic about the news.

In October, Christopher put in a transfer to the Hartford office, and he and Lorelai started house hunting. They found a place between Hartford and Stars Hollow, as Lorelai couldn't quite fathom being in the same city as her parents, but given that their elders were aging, being closer was a good thing. Lorelai couldn't bring herself to sell the Crap Shack, but she kept it with the argument that it was Rory's childhood home, and everyone deserved the chance to go home again. Since both of their parents still lived in their childhood homes, Christopher really didn't argue. As long as they were living together, and not in Stars Hollow, he really had no reason to complain. And they were. To start things completely anew, they both left their houses virtually furnished, and picked new furnishings for the new house together. The only items that came from either old house were clothes, books, toys (for Gigi), or items holding sentimental value, like photographs and artwork. The transition was relatively smooth. Lorelai quickly found a new favorite coffee shop, and actually enjoyed her commute to and from work.

In December, Christopher and Lorelai took a trip to Paris to drop Gigi off with Sherry for a few weeks. He convinced her to stay a few days in the hotel they stayed in the last time they were there. This time he remembered to set the clock so they wouldn't sleep through their dinner reservations.

Sitting in the same restaurant as before, but during the evening, not the early morning, Lorelai marveled over the view of the shops of the Champs Elysees and the boats floating along the Seine. "It's so beautiful here," she said.

"I agree," Christopher replied, not taking his eyes off of Lorelai for a moment. "Are you getting dessert?"

"Of course I am!" she exclaimed.

Christopher smiled and called the waiter over to order.

When the desserts appeared, they began to eat slowly, and talk quietly about their life, and their future. As Lorelai finished her mousse, Christopher reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box.

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, will you marry me, again?" he asked.

She looked up at him, then down at the ring. It was a large emerald cut sapphire, surrounded by diamonds. "Christopher," she whispered, "it's beautiful! I've always wanted a ring like this."

"I know," he replied with a smile.

"How did you know? My grandmother had a ring just like this and I loved it when I was a kid."

"You wanted to do it right this time Lore, so I asked your father for permission. He told me to wait just a moment, then came back with this box. He handed it to me and told me 'use this,'" Christopher explained.

"This is my grandmother's ring?" she asked to clarify.

"It's only fitting that another Lorelai wears it. So, will you? Wear it that is," he asked again.

She nodded as tears streamed down her face. She held out her left hand to him, and he slid the ring into place. "But it's gonna be a long engagement Mister," she told him.

"I can handle that."

They spent Christmas with Logan and Rory, and to Christopher's surprise, no blood was shed. Lorelai was finally coming around to Logan. There was snow, hot chocolate, and lots of Christmas movies. Gigi's Christmas wish was a baby.

In April, in the midst of wedding planning, Gigi got her wish. Lorelai wanted a little boy, and Christopher agreed, but he knew he'd also be fine with another Gilmore Girl. Lorelai in her infinite wisdom decided to announce this at the most inopportune time possible, while trying on wedding dresses with her mother. Emily almost had a stroke, and Richard was barely able to calm her down long enough for Lorelai to share their plan.

* * *

A knock at the door brought Christopher out of his memories.

"Are you ready Dad?" Rory asked.

"You bet Kid," he said as he opened the door.

"Then let's go!" she said eagerly.

"You look beautiful Rory," he told her honestly as he took in her dress and her hair. "So much like your mother."

"You look great too Dad," she replied as she stopped to straighten his tie. "Are those skulls on your tuxedo studs?"

"Yep. You like?"

"Those must have been a gift from Mom," she said knowingly.

"Right you are, my darling daughter," he confirmed as they headed further down the hall.

* * *

Logan Huntzberger sat impatiently on the bench, waiting for the action to start. He dug out his phone and began to scroll through his text messages, when he got one from Rory _It's almost time!_ he smiled at the message and set his phone down.

While he waited his mind wandered back to the events of the last few months.

* * *

He and Rory had spent the night of Richard and Emily's Anniversary Party making love and making plans.

Rory spent the next few months on the road with the campaign. She flew to Palo Alto to see him every few weeks, and he flew out to where ever she was every few weeks to meet up with her. The other journalists never completely gave up on the Rory/Huntzberger story, but Rory was too happy to care anymore.

In October, they went home to visit for her birthday. They had dinner with her parents and grandparents, and lunch with his father and sister. Honor announced that she was pregnant and due in May. Much to his surprise, Rory finally dropped her grudge against Mitchum, and in no time the two of them were talking up a storm. So much so that at one point Honor leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "Looks like you may be off the hook."

"For what?"

"Being the Huntzberger Heir, looks like Dad's got a new favorite."

After the election, instead of staying on with the press corps she settled in with him in Palo Alto, and got a job as a columnist in a regionally syndicated paper, without Mitchum's help, even though he would have gladly given it if she'd asked.

December came, and found the happy couple back in Hartford. They spent Christmas with the Gilmore's and New Years with the Huntzbergers, minus Shira who was home sick with the flu. Christmas had been wonderful, yet unexpected. Despite he and Rory being very happy that they were back together, and Lorelai and Christopher being happily back together, he and Lorelai still didn't have a great relationship.

It was Christmas morning and Logan was sitting outside on the patio, appreciating the snow they didn't get in California and drinking his coffee, when he heard the door open, and someone step out onto the patio with him.

"Merry Christmas," the voice said.

"Yeah, you too," he responded politely.

"Can I sit down?" Lorelai asked.

"It's your house," he reminded her.

She took a seat on the bench next to him. "I'm sorry Logan."

"What are you sorry for?" he asked, genuinely confused. While they didn't get along, she wasn't outright rude to him or anything.

"Someone pointed out that I didn't like you for reasons that had nothing to do with you," she explained.

"Oh," he replied, still confused.

"You remind me of someone that I love very much, but that hurt me very badly. I didn't want that to happen to my baby girl."

"I love Rory, Lorelai, with all of my heart," he said, trying not to sound annoyed. "I would never hurt her on purpose."

"Christopher never hurt me on purpose either," she said quietly.

"But you and Christopher are good, right?" he asked curiously.

"We are now. But you reminded me so much of him when he was your age. I… I'm sorry. My behavior wasn't fair to you."

"It's okay Lorelai," he said with a smile.

"Thanks Logan." She slid a little closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You make my daughter very happy, keep up the good work. But remember, if you hurt her, I know how to hide a body." She grinned up at him.

"Got it."

The New Year kept both Rory and Logan busy. She was writing story after story, and his business was growing like crazy. They had no intention of returning to the east coast until Honor's baby shower in March, but unfortunately fate had other plans.

Elias had a stroke in early February forcing Logan to make a trip to see the old man. Even if they hadn't been getting along, Elias was still his grandfather, and Logan knew he'd never forgive himself if his grandfather died before he could at least attempt to make amends. Rory refused to let him go alone.

"You know my mother will be there, right?" Logan asked again as they headed for the hospital.

"She has to know we're back together Logan. Your father, or Honor, or my grandparents have probably said something by now," Rory reminded him.

They walked into the hospital hand in hand. "Logan! You're here!" his mother said dramatically as she rushed towards him for a hug. She completely ignored Rory until she pulled away from her one-sided hug. "What is she doing here?"

"Rory's my girlfriend Mom, we support each other in times of need. Where else would she be?" Logan asked.

Shira blinked twice and took a step backwards. "This is no time for jokes Logan," she scolded him.

"I'm not joking Mother."

"Mitchum!" Shira screamed. Mitchum came rushing out of Elias's ICU room.

"What's wrong?" Mitchum asked. He smiled when he saw Rory and Logan, discovering the problem for himself. "Good to see you Rory, Logan," he said hugging them each in turn.

"Hey Dad!"

"Hi Mitchum."

"You knew?" Shira shrieked.

"Well I am a journalist," he retorted. "Now please, keep your voice down, all that screaming can't be good for sick people." He returned his attention to Rory and Logan, stepping between them and putting an arm around each of their shoulders. "I didn't know you kids were coming into town, I didn't expect to see you until March."

The three of them laughed and headed into Elias's room, leaving a befuddled Shira standing in the hall.

In May Honor had a healthy baby boy, Hunter Elias, 7 pounds 6 ounces, 21 inches long. Uncle Logan couldn't wait to spoil the kid, and Honor made him promise not to teach the kid all of his tricks.

* * *

The processional music began to play, bringing Logan back to the present. He stood up, and gave Christopher a smile and wink. He watched as Gigi walked down the aisle, scattering rose petals every few feet along the way. When she reached the head of the aisle he turned back to see Rory coming down the aisle in her beautiful dress and bouquet. She gave him a wink as she passed him and took her place next to her sister. The music changed and Logan turned to the back one more time, to watch Lorelai and Richard walk down the aisle.

Lorelai made a beautiful bride. If you didn't know it, you would never realize she was pregnant.

* * *

Christopher stood with the minister as he watched his daughters come down the aisle towards him. Gigi scattered rose petals, and stopped and gave him a hug before he reminded her she was supposed to be on the other side of the stage.

Rory came down, smiling the whole way. Christopher watched Logan as Logan watched her. He had a feeling he would be walking his daughter down the aisle in the not too distant future.

The music changed and Richard and Lorelai entered the room. Lorelai was so beautiful that it almost took his breath away. He smiled as she approached, stepping down from the stage to meet her and Richard at the end of the aisle.

He shook Richard's hand and took Lorelai's hand in his own.

"Who presents this woman to this man?" the reverend asked.

"Her mother and I do," Richard said clearly. "Finally!" The crowd laughed, Lorelai elbowed her father in the ribs, and Richard winked at Christopher and leaned over to whisper to him "Good luck son, welcome to the family."

The ceremony was short, and soon the bride and groom were kissing, and then everyone was rushing back down the aisle to get to the reception.

The reception was in the Rose Room. Both Christopher and Lorelai found it very fitting. But unlike Richard and Emily, this pair decided to share the head table with the family. So joining the bride and groom were Rory and Logan, Gigi, Richard and Emily, and Francine. Despite all of the years of grudges, everyone managed to move past them. Richard even invited Gigi to call him and Emily Grandpa and Grandma. Christopher couldn't help but smile at this development.

As the food was being delivered, he felt a tug at the sleeve of his jacket. "Yes Gigi?"

"If Aunt Lorelai's parents are Grandma and Grandpa, does that mean I should call her Mom now?" Gigi asked him, confused.

"Sherry is your mom Sweetie, and it might hurt her feelings if you start calling Lorelai that, but I bet we can come up with a name for her that works for everyone," he answered.

"Okay Dad," Gigi replied. "But what?"

"Let's ask Lorelai," he said, but before he could ask, the sound of forks on glasses interrupted them.

"Toast! Toast! Toast!" the guests were chanting. The bandleader brought the microphone over to the head table, but before Chris could grab it, Rory grabbed it first.

"I'm the maid of honor, I get to make the first toast," she told him with a smile.

"Hi everybody!" she said into the mic, "If any of you don't know me, I'm Rory, the daughter of the bride and groom." The crowd chuckled. "I'm here to toast the happy couple, so here it goes. Mom, you've been my best friend and my inspiration for my entire life. All I've ever wanted is to be just like you: smart, witty, beautiful and independent. You taught me to never settle for anything less than exactly what I wanted. I'm so blessed to be able to follow your example. Dad, I know it hasn't always been easy for us, but I have never felt anything less than loved by you. I'm so glad you and Mom have finally gotten everything together." Christopher looked over to see Lorelai with tears sparkling in her eyes, and reached over to Rory and squeezed her hand. "So everyone, please raise your glasses to my parents, who have shown us all that true love does indeed last a life time, and that timing really is everything."

The guests laughed, which was followed by a chant of "To Christopher and Lorelai!"

Christopher motioned to his daughter to hand over the microphone, and refilled Lorelai's glass with the bottle of sparkling cider that was on the table for Gigi. "Thank you all for coming!" he started as he stood up. "My wife and I," he grinned involuntarily at the word wife and looked at Lorelai who was beaming as well, "are so glad that you could join us today. We know we've had a long, strange, trip to the alter, but it's been worth every second of it. So to all of you, thank you for all of your support over the years."

Everyone drank to his toast, and he sat back down. Lorelai leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Worth every second of it?"

"Sure, we wouldn't be the people we are now without our pasts. And going through all the crap makes me realize just how lucky I am to be here with you right now."

"You are just too much," she responded, and then moved to kiss him. "I love you Mr. Hayden."

"I love you too Mrs. Hayden," he replied, smiling at the sound of that name rolling off his tongue.

"I'm only Mrs. Hayden to you," she reminded him.

"That's all I've ever wanted."

* * *

After the plates were cleared, the bandleader announced the first dance. The bride and groom were dancing to At Last, by Etta James, which Logan found incredibly fitting, and apparently the rest of the guests did as well, because there was ripple of chuckles heard throughout the room when the song started.

_At last_

_my love has come along_

_my lonely days are over_

_and life is like a song_

Logan was leaned up against a wall, with Rory standing in front of him, wrapped in his arms, watching the first dance. He found himself singing along with the song, quietly into Rory's ear. She turned and smiled up at him.

"You really can't sing you know," she told him.

"I know. Do you want me to stop?" he asked.

"No."

He continued to sing along.

"Look at how happy they are," Rory said.

"Almost as happy as we are," he replied.

"Almost."

* * *

**AN: And they all lived happily ever after! **

**As usual, I don't own Gilmore Girls or At Last. **

**I hope you enjoyed this little peek into the future. **

**Thank you so much for reading reviewing, favoriting, and alerting. It has meant so much to me. I've enjoyed each and every review, so again, thank you!**

**S**


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